fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. next hour, the president will go around congress to get something done again. he's announcing new rules to reduce pollution. dozens arrested outside the white house protesting president obama's deportation policies. could the president take another executive action to keep more people here? and a major primary election starts today. early voting in the texas primary, where one official says turnout might even hit presidential campaign levels. are eyes are on the battle to replace governor rick perry. greg abbott and the youtube sensation wendy davis. good morning, i'm ari melber in for chris jansing and we begin with a breakthrough today

for an effort to hold one of the most authoritarian countries accountable. a report was just released about brutality and murder and documents human rights violations on a scale u.n. experts say is without any parallel. according to drawings based on testimony from people held in north korean prison camps, the government uses torture, rape, forced abortions and murder on its own people and the viciousness is not limited to adults. one of the most harrowing findings is to children. guards would, quote, force either a mother or third person to kill the baby by drowning it in water or suffocate it by holding a cloth or other item against its face or putting the baby face down so it cannot breathe. the panel's investigation points to kim jong-un, who could personally be blamed for these unspeakable crimes.

the u.n. directly warned him he could face international prosecution, to render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for the crimes against humanity. joining us now is nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell, the host of "andrea mitchell reports," which is moving to noon eastern on monday. and steve clemons, contributor and founder of the american strategy foreign policy forum at the new america foundation. welcome to you both. andrea, what are we learning here at a level of higher authority and depth about what's happening in north korea? >> from the people whom we talked to at the u.n. panel, also kenneth roth at the human rights watch, this is the most documented report that we have had. we've known about north korea, but we have never had this amount of testimony from defectors and from former prisoners and their drawings, which have actually matched up some of their drawings of the large expanses of the camps

match up of google earth, so they seem to have recent knowledge of what is going on, and according to the authority of michael kirby, the former australian judge who led the panel, this is an unparalleled contemporary horror, atrocities that rival what happened in nazi germany, but it is happening in our own era, and it is something that he believes and that human rights watch has been arguing has to be addressed, because while secretary kerry and others in the administration have focused on the nuclear agenda against north korea and trying to enlist beijing and pressuring north korea, on this, the report says china is complicit, china is helping defectors and escapees and former prisoners be returned to be executed. they are returning people back to north korea and taking part in this process. >> andrea, you mention the

evidence here, this report from the u.n., which has the standing to do it, spoke to more than 80 people on the record, more than 200 in secure and private means because of the risks involved, and the physical atrocities, the torture, the murder, the forced abortions, which we just mentioned and have been reporting and you've been reporting, are extreme. and then the report also speaks to what it calls a complete social isolation. i mean, it is really something to think about the world we live in today and what we take for granted and information and media and internet and read about it's documented here a society where according to this u.n. report, all personal social interaction has the oppression in the hands of the government on it. >> well, that has been the situation in north korea now for decades, you know, for several generations, and, in fact, one of the defectors, former north korean army general said that his hope is that this will have

some impact on the people of north korea, but he knows, as well as we know, from this report and from our own coverage there, i've been to pyongyang twice, once in 2000, once in 2006. there is just no penetration. there's no internet. there's no access to outside information, and some of the executions that took place were from people who had actually been watching pirated soap operas and other outside videos. >> wow. i want to bring in steve clemons here, and andrea mentions impact. there is something different here about this report, as we have been emphasizing, beyond the information it excavates, which amnesty, other ngos and when possible, western media have been trying to report. there is a legally binding process here, although cabined by the rules of the u.n. what's the potential impact here for changing the regime? >> well, right now as long as china continues to be a patron of north korea, it will block

any movement of the security council, which would be required for any of the steps to sort of follow through afterward, but i think andrea put it exactly right, this is embarrassment for china. i think one of the interesting by-products of joe biden's trip to asia in december was that i think the u.s. delegation learned the degree to which xi jinping is not -- in his willingness to protect north korea, coddle it, and support it, and we have seen steps by china, subtle ones, like export controls in the nuclear program and what not, where xi jinping and china may be willing to take a slightly more forceful look, and even though the security council will not proceed in the global eye and global public opinion, this, it's hard to imagine north korea being more isolated than it already is, but this legitimates that isolation

further, so the report's impact is informal, but very important at this point. >> yeah, and andrea, the view from a lot of folks in china and, obviously, north korea, is the international criminal court through the u.n. is a tool of the west, tool of politics, not law. >> the icc was created by the united nations, so china will veto any action to recommend by the security council to recommend that it goes to the international criminal court, but it's a fallacy to say that it's a tool of the west, because it was created by the entire u.n. process. that said, there's going to be a hearing by the u.n. human rights commission in geneva next week. they will have a very prominent defector testifying, and this will put more pressure on not only china, but on, well, north korea, which did react to this, which said it was defamation and it was a creation by the west and their response yesterday through lawyers, and what some in the human rights community are saying is that this should

just go to the general assembly. they don't have the teeth, they don't have the enforcement that the security council has, but this will create an even wider debate and put more pressure on china, and what this report says is china is at risk of being held as aiders and abetters of crimes against humanity, and that would make them liable if they arrest defectors and send them back, who were then executed. >> steve, that's a significant point, one china doesn't appreciate. also to andrea's reference here, this is a report north korea broadly did not participate with, despite repeated requests, as the report indicates, but they are responding to it now. briefly walk us through that strategy and where we're headed. >> i think the most important thing, just a short while ago, a chinese envoy critiqued the report for politicizing human rights issues, but interestingly, that envoy didn't say those human rights abuses were not taking place. he said there's other ways to

approach these questions. i think that's a nuanced but important sign along the lines what andrea just said, china faces some accusations of serious complicity with these crimes and wants to be careful with its own position. that's the power of this report. north korea did not cooperate with this, that's not surprising, but the next time dennis rodman goes over and hangs out with kim jong-un, he and others that basically turn a blind eye to what north korea's done internally to its own people have this report to further shame them, so this is a document of utter horror and utter shame that, i think, does create problems for china and may, in fact, be something where china begins to recalculate its relationship with north korea on a number of fronts, and that would be a net positive. >> andrea? >> just very briefly, you showed some of the sketches that we've put together in my nightly news piece last night, but i should

point out there was some of the accusations that had been well documented in this report from the former prisoners, who are so gross and grotesque, i could not put them on american television. >> right. and reading the report, the words alone are hard to read, yet important to document as you've been doing. andrea mitchell, thank you very much. steve clemons, thank you for joining us this morning. again, be sure to catch andrea's show noon eastern starting monday. >> moving up. >> moving up, we will be there, there will be a lot more reporting on this. we're going to turn now to our news feed this morning. investigators are looking into the claims of a 19-year-old woman who said she killed at least 24 people in four different states, joined a, quote, satanic cult and started killing then. she stopped keeping track after her 22nd murder. she only killed what she called, quote, bad people, some of whom she met on craigslist. scary moments on a flight from denver to montana.

the plane suddenly dropped, five had to be taken to the hospital, including a flight attendant. one witness said she saw a baby thrown from her parents' arms but landed safely two rows away. another passenger hit her head so hard on the cabin ceiling that she cracked the panel itself. united says it's reviewing this incident. next hour, president obama heads to maryland. the president, as we mentioned, is announcing steps to require u.s. trucks to improve their fuel efficiency by 2016. it is another step in what the white house calls a year of action. safeway is a leader in trucking efficiency, according to white house officials. and finally, it is the tonight show starring jimmy fallon. for the first time in more than 40 years, you may have heard about this, the show was broadcast from manhattan instead of l.a. actually, right here in our 30 rock headquarters, and it wasn't all jokes. fallon reflected on what the show means to him in his monologue last night. >> i remember being a kid and

asking my parents, can i stay up to watch johnny carson? that was a big deal to stay up late, they'd let me watch the monologue and i'd pretend i wasn't there before they told me to go to bed. i used to think there was a kid staying up late to watch me, it means a lot to me. i hope i do well. >> and he is doing well so far. and the laughs and the cameos began. fallon called out a crew of celebrities, who he said owed him money for betting against him ever hosting the show. will smith was fallon's first guest getting jiggy with it and he joined fallon, waltzing through a history of rap dance moves from the carlton, to, yes, the dougie. viewers who wanted more serious performances could also jam to u2, which played a set at the top of the rock, the top of rockefeller center. you can see all the way to the

old tonight show in l.a. up there. that was good. it was a good show. now, faith leaders handcuffed and arrested in front of the white house. they want the president to stop tearing families apart, they say, with his record number of deportions under his enforcement authority. we're going to look at this and talk to one of the activists who was arrested. that is next. it says here that a woman's sex drive increases at the age of 80. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. keep heart-healthy. live long. eat the 100% goodness of post shredded wheat. doctors recommend it.

♪ aflac, aflac, aflac! ♪ [ both sigh ] ♪ ugh! ♪ you told me he was good, dude. yeah he stinks at golf. but he was great at getting my claim paid fast. how fast? mine got paid in 4 days. wow. that's awesome. is that legal? big fat no. [ male announcer ] find out how fast aflac can pay you at aflac.com.

[ male announcer ] find out how fast aflac can pay you ♪ [see what's new at find out how fprojectluna.comay you

now we turn to the fight for immigration reform and how some organizers are committed to battling, regardless of the inside maneuvers in washington. the effort moved to 1600 pennsylvania avenue on monday. activists from faith-based groups protested what they called the record level of deportations in 2012, objecting that these enforcement policies are tearing families apart. dozens were arrested. now here's a big number for the

context here, about 800,000 deportations over the last two fiscal years, 409,000 in 2012 alone, was a record for the united states. now we have one of the activists arrested at the white house yesterday, a bishop in the united methodist church. she joins us. how do you do? >> good morning. >> good morning. tell us, bishop, what happened yesterday. tell us about your arrest and how you got out, what we know about your situation now. >> well, immigrants, faith, and labor leaders joined to protest the deportation of almost 2 million immigrants, causing great suffering among immigrant families, churches, communities, as well. we were there to protest and demand president obama stop the deportations. >> but why were you arrested specifically? >> we were arrested because we prayed. we prayed right in front of the

white house. we had signs that demanded the stopping of the deportations. we were warned that we could not have those signs, we could not be in that space. we felt that it was our right and it was our responsibility, even if it were moving into civil disobedience, that we lift our voices on behalf of immigrant families that are suffering on this day, that we demand from president obama what he can do and that is stop the deportations. >> and bishop, you took that direct action as you described to create pressure, to create some urgency here on an issue that we hear a lot about in washington, but we don't see a lot of action, yet one of the main objections, as you know from republicans, has been the claim, the accusation, that this administration can't be trusted to enforce the law, and yet it seems like we're having a conversation about, in your view, the fact that they are enforcing it in some ways more vigorously, including against

family unification principles, than previous administrations. >> that's correct. the administration has continued to deport people, has set a tone that has put the burden of a broken immigration system on the back of innocent, hard-working persons. and their families are suffering. it has been said in congress that president obama can't be trusted, well, we are not at a position where we trust either the administration or the congress to do the right thing, and so we're trying to lift the moral voice. we need our administration and congress to do the right thing and be fair and just and humane towards immigrant families. >> yeah. well, i appreciate that. bishop, this is one of these issues we talk about in terms of parliamentary strategy, politics, the donations, i understand you and the movement you're working with is looking much more grassroots and trying to get washington to think about

it in perhaps a different way. bishop, thanks for telling us about your work today. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you. coming up, everyone knows wendy davis from her now famous filibuster, but can those pink running shoes catapult her into the governor's office? today, early voting began this morning, so we have reports on that. we're going to check the status of her campaign. that's up next. (meow mix jingle) right on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name. kand i don't have time foris morunreliable companies.b

angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're watching one of the biggest financial services companies in the country at work. hey. thanks for coming over. hey. [ male announcer ] how did it come to be? yours? ah. not anymore. it's a very short story. come on in. [ male announcer ] by meeting you more than halfway. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. [ male announcer ] by meeting you more than halfway. (knochello? hey, i notice your car is not in the driveway. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. that's hilarious. sorry. you shoulda taken it to midas. get some of that midas touch. they tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. next time i'm going to midas. high-five!

arg! i did not see that coming. trust the midas touch. for brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) [ mawhile a body in motionat restends to stay in motion... staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers,

which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. welcome back. it is snowing again from the midatlantic states to new england, parts of maine and massachusetts could see up to eight inches today. let's be clear, that is on top of the foot or two of snow they already have on the ground. you can see the icicles, but a warmup is on the way. bill karins joins us now. bill, who's seeing the worst today and where are we going to find a warmup? >> this isn't a big, huge storm, but all over with new york city

to d.c., still a little snow coming your way in the boston area, though, expect roads to be treacherous for the afternoon. still a little bit of snow left going across upstate new york, but in general, this was a minor event compared to some of the snow events we've seen this season. as far as the boston area goes, already snow north on the 495 loop. throughout the day, that's where the worst will be, up around manchester, that's plowable, but really the basis we're getting to, the annoying factor of the snow. done in new york city. one inch in central park, now officially the seventh snowiest winter ever in new york city. 19 inches to go for the record. areas like indianapolis have seen the fifth snowiest winter on record. here's the snow depth around the country. we only have 34% of the lower 48 covered in snow, but it's a deep snow pack through new england and the great lakes, no snow on the ground in central montana. so it's really been the great lakes, ohio valley, and the

northeast. that's exactly who's getting this much-needed february thaw wednesday, thursday, friday. i think thursday and friday is the peak of it. and we'll take a little chunk off the snow pack, but not all of it. and then, as we go throughout, look at areas like indianapolis, 54, 45, then uh-oh, trend's going down. here's the bad news, next week it looks like another blast of cold air comes at us, right back in the freeze for the middle of next week, so we try. we give you a little taste, a little tease, then throw you out the door. >> ice jams, that's something that sounds like a good thing, sounds like a jazz imp vieization. >> no, we don't want that. >> that's why you're here, to teach me. >> we can go to class all day, you do the same for me. >> karins, thank you very much. appreciate that. for our must read today, if you read only one thing this morning, you know it's got to be about "house of cards ". the new season is out and today

i have a new essay about it up. washington is a town full of phoney politicians and interestingly the only true believers are hackers, whistle-blowers, and even a billionaire donor, but the whistle-blowers soon face charges of their own while government lawbreakers float away. that's no surprise, prosecution is always about evidence, not crime. and frank underwood doesn't leave much evidence behind. if you want more, and i hope you might, it's up on our facebook page and salon.com right now. let us know what you think, head to facebook/jansingco. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today.

this is mike. his long race day starts with back pain... ...and a choice. take 4 advil in a day which is 2 aleve... ...for all day relief. "start your engines" television announcer: mattress discounters' $197 mattress sale $197 mattress sale is on now. bulldog: mattress discounters' $197 mattress sale! television announcer: right now, you can get a serta mattress, any size, for just $197 each piece when you buy the complete set. bulldog: any size mattress - twin, full, queen, or king - for one low price! and they'll deliver it free. television announcer: the $197 mattress sale... bulldog: oh boy! television announcer: ...is on now.

♪ mattress discounters

a steel cage: death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: hurry in and lease the 2014 passat s for $189 a month which includes a $500 bonus. it's been a banner 24 hours for team usa in sochi, led by ice dancer meryl davis and charlie white. the duo became the first americans to ever take home a gold in ice dancing. how about that? they beat the canadians. and alex stiefel took the bronze, that's a long way from

the vancouver games, when he was a wax tech preparing athletes' boards. bronze in the two-man's bobsled, that ended a 62-year u.s. drought in that event. looking at the medal count, u.s. and russia are tied each with 19 medals, but germany is winning the gold race, if you want to look at it that way, they have eight. here's what's on tap for today. women's alpine skiing, men's snowboard cross and ski halfpipe, women's bobsled, including lolo jones, speed skating and men's and women's hockey. on the heels of davis and white winning the first gold in ice dancing, we look at olympic events americans have never won the gold in. there's luge, erin hammel came close this year, winning the bronze in sochi. pairs figure skating. the russians have won that for every olympics between 1964 and 2006. there's curling, the u.s. has only won two medals ever, a silver and a bronze.

ski jumping, where america has one medal, which it won all the way back in 1924. then there's cross-country skiing, the only u.s. medal came back in 1976. and then the biathlon, no medals ever. a link to the full list of disappointments is up at jansing.msnbc.com. now today's tweet of the day comes from our very own chris jansing in sochi. she tweeted out this photo and wrote, olympic gold medalists meryl davis and charlie white looking great and feeling great on two hours of sleep. i don't know how they do it. we're going to turn now to a very big political story. early voting began this morning and will continue through february 28th in texas. rick perry's leaving the governor's mansion and rick abbott is the gop favorite to replace him and wendy davis is the democrats front-runner. joining us now, aisha and

hector. welcome to you both. hector, let's start right there, since you have some texas credentials. we've seen duelling endorsements in this governor's race. very different candidates. you could argue very much at the core of both of their respective parties. this is a real conservative going against texas standards, a real liberal. >> that's true, and it's going to be a very interesting race, and i'll tell you, wendy's gotten into a little bit of trouble with some of the things she's said, and as you know, ari, especially in texas, you know, people want to know what you really think, what you really believe, and credibility is critically important. >> what do you mean, what are you referring to? >> obviously, she had problems with her biography and it was not understandable. she has a great story, so to be embellishing your life history, that's something a lot of people are shaking their heads about. >> just so viewers understand specifics, what are you saying she embellished, if we're going

to start there. >> a lot about when she lived in a trailer park, who paid for her education, the ages that she was divorced and married. these are simple things that people know. u.n. what your life story is. that gave people a lot of pause. then some of the statements that she's made recently about some of her positions with regards to abortion. people are wondering if she's changing her stance on that. >> well, let's take a look at something she said about this. this is from a recent "new york times" magazine piece. of course i would expect people to are inclined to think negatively about me to pick on something like this. do i think i'm held to a different standard than a man who would be in the exact same race and exact same story? yes, but that is reality. i don't spend time worrying about it. aisha, to you for a response to what hector said and her comments there. >> yeah, so i want to just share

with you that my very first political campaign i worked was ron kirks's senate race down in texas back in 2002, so i know about texas and the politics on the ground there and really enjoyed that race, and i have to say that wendy davis is right. the smear tactics and a lot of the digging into and really trying to make her look like a liar and a fraud around her personal life history, i think, has a lot to do with gender. you would not see these type of attacks on, you know, things like whether or not she's raising her daughters, for example, on a male candidate, so i think that she is definitely, you know, trying to shrug it often and saying this is the way it works. and the thing about this kind of idea of flip-flopping, one of the things that is frustrating the process, at least here in washington, is this idea that politicians that legislators have to be black or white, that policy making is either/or, and

the reality is, it's so much more nuanced than that, so to have a candidate that says these are my values, this is what i believe, but i understand that policy making is a little bit more complicated and this can be nuanced is important. >> let me give hector the benefit of the response there. the idea being here that relatively old, i would say, accusations about what she was doing vis-a-vis her children at a very young age, the idea that is tantamount to her policy record or public life, i think, is what she's objecting to and the accusation that is not how people hold males, basically, accountable in either party. hector, your response? >> well, listen, anybody that spent any time in texas knows politics in texas is definitely rough and tumble, but i'm kind of amazed by this, because we heard recently that people in her campaign were saying some very disparaging things about the attorney general abbott and

the fact of his disability. i didn't hear a lot of outrage or people making negative or disparaging remarks about his physical impairment. look, texas is a very tough state. i mean, you've got to get ready if you're going to run for statewide office to get some of these attacks, and i think people just want to hear what the truth is, the straight scoop on what she really believes. you know, the whole purpose of that filibuster was on this 20-week ban and now she's been quoted as saying maybe she could support that ban. again, people are a little bit confused, you know, what does she really think, what does she really believe and what is her really, true history? >> i think there's a difference between her public issues of the day versus the kind of digging that's gone on about how she deals with her family or her children. thank you and the early voting goes until february 28th, so we'll hopefully talk to you all again. >> thanks a lot, ari. >> thanks.

could it be coming to a workplace they are you? tell me, is this a growing trend? >> it sounds pretty awesome but probably too early to call it a growing trend. some companies call it the endless summer. all i have is images of surface. the idea is to put no cap on the amount of vacation, sick days, personal days that a worker has and instead leave it to the discretion of each employee. now, corporate h.r. and benefits managers say not worrying about all those vacation time and squirrelling away days to help with your kids sick days helps employees focus on work. the big concern is whether or not workers will abuse this kind of plan and put employers at some kind of disadvantage. some experts argue there is a sort of invisible hand that will keep abuse of the policy to a minimum, claiming workers will fear the possible reputational damage that will result if they were viewed as slacking off. companies also like the idea since there is no vacation time

accrual, there's no payout for unused vacation if an employee then decides to leave. >> you know what you need if you're on a long vacation is a convertible, and i know you have car stats. talk to us. >> so here's the thing. if you're in the market, this could be a great time to buy a car, because car makers are offering all kinds of incentives to get you to open up your wallet. after all the bad weather an dealer inventories that are on the rise, you may see things like manufacturer rebates advertised more heavily in the coming months. this is in an effort to move the vehicle stockpiles at dealers. it's a sharp contrast to what happened last year when we saw robust demand for cars. it meant that you didn't see as many discounts and incentives, but where the battle lines are drawn are between consumers and shareholders. shareholders, they are worried about profit margins. that's why this is a big deal. >> that's their thing, they like the profit margins. thank you for your reporting today. >> thank you very much, guys. all right. we will be right back. i got the surface 2. first of all, it comes with office and outlook.

then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries, i can talk to my cousins any time. and then, i got 200 gigs of cloud storage -- free -- so i can get my photos and stuff almost anywhere. others charge for that. surface is such a great deal. i feel like i should tell somebody. hey! ♪ honestly ♪ i want to see you be brave ♪ i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula that's just not found in any leading multivitamin. help protect your eye health with ocuvite. he knows every beat, every note, and every word to danny's songs. [ felix meows ]

and danny knows exactly how to keep his lifetime fan, going strong. because he knows cats need meat, and it's why he only feeds him iams. with 2 times the meat of other leading brands. to keep his body as strong as a love that never misses a beat. iams. keep love strong. with 2x the meat. love the iams difference or your money back. yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what's the... guest room situation? the "name your price" tool, making the world a little more progressive.

who feel like there's a brick on their face. who are so congested, it feels like the walls are closing in. ♪ who are so stuffed up, they feel like they're under water. try zyrtec-d® to powerfully clear your blocked nose and relieve your other allergy symptoms... so you can breathe easier all day. zyrtec-d®. find it at the pharmacy counter.

antioxidant supplements may have an unwanted side effect, using mice, swedish researchers shows some supplements caused lung tumors to grow and spread. they've stressed the supplements don't cause cancer and future research should further investigate the link. criminal justice reform and income inequality will be on the agenda when president obama meets with civil rights groups at the white house today, this afternoon. the meeting comes at a time when the obama justice department has been busy leading reforms on civil rights priorities and some are saying eric holder has become the conscience of the president's second terms, pushing issues he calls matters of fairness. that includes a new call for restoring constitutional rights

to a pretty unpopular constituency, convicted felons. >> it is time to fundamentally reconsider laws that permanently disenfranchise people who are no longer under federal or state supervision. >> also on holder's agenda, new rules to give banks okay to give loans to marijuana businesses. holder says the guidelines are needed and cited the danger of legal marijuana businesses dealing in all cash. last year holder announced the justice department would not attempt to challenge state laws that do allow for some use of individual pot. now while holder has drawn praise, he's also had, let's be clear, a contentious relationship with house republicans who criticize his approach to guns, voter i.d., and the approach to the irs and held him in contempt over charges relating to fast and furious. >> i don't think this matter lightly, and i would frankly hope it would never come to this. >> we were lied to. we were lied to repeatedly and

over a ten-month period. >> and some legal scholars have objected to the doj's investigation of journalists and deals with wall street that have mostly avoided individual prosecutions. well, we have two doj experts here to look at the holder legacy. matt miller served as an aide to attorney general holder at the doj. welcome to you both. sherrilyn, i want to start with you. part of the meeting we mentioned today with the president and civil rights groups, how much of these kind of meetings generally relate to criminal justice issues and what holder's doing? >> well, i think for those of us who are engaged in civil rights work, criminal justice is never far from our minds, particularly the issue of mass incarceration, we recognize that our prison population has grown exponentially. it was 500,000 people in our prison system in 1980 and now

we're at nearly 2 million. the vast, you know, amount of increase really is born by african-americans and latinos. the increase is largely due to nonviolent drug offenders being incarcerated, and it's decimating our communities. we, obviously, also care about equality in the application of the law, and so to the extent that racism continues to infect the criminal justice system, this is an issue we consistently raise with the attorney general, and, of course, we raise the whole array of civil rights issues, including voting rights. sometimes i think people forget the attorney general of the united states is the chief law enforcement officer of the united states and that civil rights laws are laws, and he is beholden to enforce them. >> that's fair, the civil rights agenda, while debated, also is codified, matt, and a lot of these rules have to be enforced if they are going to be taken seriously. what do you think, having worked for the attorney general at this moment where in the new yorker profile and front page coverage

we're seeing an assessment of his legacy, what is it? >> i think when you look at his entire legacy, when you set aside some of the heat and partisanship and look at his accomplishments to expand rights for gay and lesbian couples, look at what he's done to protect voting rights, especially in the wake of huge challenges from the courts, when you look at what he's done to reform the criminal justice system and as you mentioned, i think his legacy's going to be a transformational one and when people look back at his record, it's going to be one of doing more to expand justice than any attorney general since bobby kennedy, which i think is something he'll take pride in. >> you say let's set aside the partisanship and there's no doubt when you look at the first contempt vote over charges that legally didn't rise to anything like that standard, i don't think there's any doubt the house republicans have overplayed their hand, matt, but we also went out for the segment and interviewed legal conservatives who are not as partisan, but have other issues.

i want to read a view, new for msnbc, the attorney general has been neither competent, nor nonpartisan, and he said my greatest criticism is his insistence on racializing so many doj issues, including criminal justice, as well as voting rights and in general, his use of the disparate impact approach to civil rights enforcement. that's conservatively ideological, but not as partisan. what's your response, matt? >> i think that statement is consistent with a mindset of some people that want to pretend the civil rights division at the department of justice doesn't exist, and one of eric holder's chief priorities from when he took office was to restore the civil rights division and some of that's controversial. there are some people who wish those laws weren't enforced, they always have, so every time he does more to expand justice, you see that type of criticism

pop up, but, in fact, what he's doing is enforcing some of the laws that, as sherrilyn said, are on the books and need to be enforced. >> i want to read from richard epstein, another conservative legal thinker. he said, look, the approach to voting rights enforcement was over the top and the need to keep it in place based on 1964 voting patterns is a serious error, but instead of backing off, he pushed individual cases that seemed meritless. your response on both of those. >> astonished. however, you know, i think we have to just recognize that as mr. miller said, there is an agenda among conservatives who have been resistant to civil rights laws. the attorney general's job is to enforce the laws as they exist. and that is what this attorney general has done and done vigorously. he made very clear after the supreme court's decision in the shelby case that the department of justice would not retreat in

the protection of minority voters. we thought this was so important and so powerful for the attorney general to make that statement. the civil rights division of the justice department is there in order to protect the civil rights principally of minorities, and people have a short memory. they forget what happened to the civil rights division during the bush years. i'm shocked mr. clay would describe the hiring of general holder as partisan when the hiring during that department during the bush years had decimated the career members of that department who really held a standard in that department over successive administrations, so mr. miller's quite right when he says attorney general holder set about rebuilding at the justice department and that's something that's happened under the radar people don't recognize. i think it's absolutely true, this will be an historic tenure for an attorney general. his statements about criminal justice, his talking to his u.s. attorneys about not overcharging cases. >> let me -- >> i don't know any prosecutor that's done that.

>> let me ask you one final question, which is his ability to actually make common cause with some of the new libertarians in the congress. this is something that gets less attention, i'm not sure why, maybe we're drawn to the partisan conflict, but he a fascinating colloquy with mike lee recently about the need to deal with, as you just mentioned, not only the overcharging, but the mandatory minimum sentences. he's had the same kind of back and forth with senator rand paul, who echoed to some degree what the attorney general had said on felony voting. rand paul saying it is more akin to jim crow than the kind of country we want today. what do you think of those connections below the radar? >> so important, rational thinkers on both sides of the aisle recognize our criminal justice system has failed, that the overincarceration is decimating our communities, that we can't financially afford it, and there are those on the right, a whole organization called right on crime that

recognizes the need to rethink our criminal justice practices and to the extend the attorney general is able to engage with those individuals is important. it lifts the issues of criminal justice reform out of the partisan place where most people feel comfortable and into the place with it belongs, in the place where we're talking about rational policy involving criminal justice in this country, the resources we have available and the lives of individuals that are being crushed by a system that's fundamentally unfair. >> i think that's well put and also in many ways the harder conversation to have, because we have to look at the humanitarian and security impacts here and if our system has been failing for so long, that's hard to reckon with, yet what do we do about it? the koch brothers have been something that scrambles alliances but goes to your point. thank you both today. i want to turn to something we're doing next hour. we're going to hear from president obama, who will call for a new round of fuel efficiency standards by march 2016 and push congress to expand

fuel choices for drivers. we're going to bring you to the president's remarks around 11:20 eastern. stay tuned. and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. 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. [ 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. ♪ with limited availability in select markets. 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.

hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter - sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know. accelerate. shift. shift. ♪ and shift again. through all eight speeds of a transmission connected to more standard horsepower than its german competitors. and that is the moment that driving the lexus gs will shift your perception. ♪ this is the pursuit of perfection.

and we have a little political controversy for you. supreme court justice scalia is dissing chicago's deep dish pizza, quote, it's tasty, but it's not pizza. according to justice scalia, real pizza is thin, chewy, and crispy. he is an originalist at heart, that is some constitutional humor. here's some nice news in presidential social media. bill clinton went to twitter. in a tweet, he wished happy presidents' day to president obama, carter, and both bushes and poked fun at bush 43, asking, hey, how come you're not on twitter? he is the only president since reagan to not join that kind of social media, but you know what, it's a personal decision. that wraps up this hour of

"jansing and co." i'm ari melber in for chris jansing, and up next, craig melvin. it says here that a woman's sex drive increases at the age of 80. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. keep heart-healthy. live long. eat the 100% goodness of post shredded wheat. doctors recommend it. and a life of purpose and meaning was infused into a corporate culture. there was a commitment to creating new jobs out of recycled metals, right here in america.

and a bank that helped carolyn rafaelian's business grow from a rhode island storefront into a global sensation. that's the beauty of connecting a vision to an enterprise. that's bank of america. choose two melt-in-your mouth entrees, olive garden's best 2 for $25 yet is ending soon! like new parmesan crusted chicken, 3 courses, 2 people, just $25 at olive garden! also enjoy weekday signature favorites, four classic pastas, now just $10!

(meowright on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name.

good tuesday, everyone, i'm craig melvin. topping our agenda today, saving americans $50 billion in fuel costs. a live look right now at upper marlborough, maryland, where within the hour president obama will talk about driving oil imports. also today, winter weary again. right now, more snow, more ice, more stress for millions of americans. we're live on the ground with spring less than a month away, hopefully. and team usa is on the rise. the men's bobsled team breaks a 62-year drought, while an american teenage sensation gets one final chance to medal. we're also live in sochi for you today. and one for the records, voters in south carolina could

lose something they have not done since 1872. elect an african-american to a statewide office. we'll run down the candidates. all that in just a moment. but let's get right to white house correspondent kristen welker, who is standing by for us, again, as president obama gets ready to speak there in maryland. he's going to speak in about 20 minutes, we're told. the theme here, kristen, is fuel efficiency. what kind of proposals can we expect to hear from president obama? >> well, craig, good morning. first, a little bit of context. you recall in his state of the union address, president obama framed this year as a year of action, essentially saying he was going to take a number of executive actions to circumvent congress to get things done, despite the sharply divided congress that exists right now, so this is an example of one of those executive actions. later today, president obama will announce that he's directing the epa to tighten fuel efficiency standards for