tv The Cycle MSNBC February 24, 2014 12:00pm-1:01pm PST
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as richard engel explains, he's wanted for the murder of 70 of his own citizens during thursday morning's protests in kiev. >> reporter: now the question is, who fired the shots? who gave the orders? the initial narrative, what we saw here was demonstrators who were armed with bats and molotov cocktails broke out of the square and started to charge the police lines. the police were pulling back and they were firing. this we saw. new video, however, suggests there was also a far more deliberate part of this narrative that the police and security forces were also deliberately firing into the crowds apparently with sniper teams. this video shows a large group of security forces armed with sniper rifles. they were maneuvering calmly, tactically. they were commuting on their radios, receiving information and firing on demonstrators.
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this could prove significant because it shows the kills were far more deliberate. >> elections are planned for this may. for now parliament is in charge. this is a battle for influence between the west and russia over ukraine's 45 million residents. moscow is questioning the legitimate of the country's interim leaders calling the an armed mute any and threat 20 russia. eu stands with the opposition freeing up $28 billion to help reform efforts and prevent a ukrainian default much the u.s. state department is sending william byrnes to meet with civil society leaders. >> what we're talking about here is the future of ukraine. and we believe that is and should continue to be up to the ukrainian people, not the united states, europe, russia or any other entity. depending how the situation develops, we're prepared to take further steps if necessary in close coordination with our
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partners. dana millbank and colonel tony schaeffer, best-selling author and senior fellow with the london center for policy research. shades of the cold war are returning here. now the games are done. what do you expect from putin in the kremlin? >> i think he was going for mull dough va and georgia next. i don't want to say we're returning to the warsaw pact. this is going to definitely put a fly in the ointment so to speak. it's been very clear. since 2000 we have seen this as a pattern. it's been very deliberate, almost a boiling frog pace if you will. done slow enough no one starts raising alarms. it's come to a hard stop. this was actual there a popular up rising. this went against everything
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they thought has happened. >> we have been told putin and our president have a bad relationship. we have seen the photograph of the two of them side by side. we have seen that picture 100 times. friday they were on the phone working on this. how can we get to de-escalation. it seems when crisis comes they can work together. >> well, i don't know if they can work together. they can talk together. they can say they spoke together because that's what people expect from them. the reset that was supposed to happen never did. long before this we were at odds overseer ya and the snowden affair. the president will be under pressure to get tough in the words of the republicans in congress. he hasn't followed their instructions on this so far. whether by design or by accent it seems to have vindicated his position so far.
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toney, ukraine appears more robust and resilient than anyone initially gave it credit for. the headlines just the day after the deadly massacre were not about more bloodshed, not about a revolution but more about order, stability and the transfer of power. it could have very well ended in civil war. what do you think this says about the overall stability of the ukrainian government? >> well, i think we can see this happening in six months if we're not careful. yes, they have organized around the opposition. they're investigating, which is significant to me. they are investigating potential war crimes of the regime. everything we talked about in the opening regarding the snipers and some of the other things we're doing. clearly they are already on top of. so i think there's a real push to go towards the elections. they want to move towards the eu. and i think the eu is willing to do what's necessary to help them sustain themselves economically. if they can help fix the economy, move it in that direction, i think we will see a sustained move towards
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democracy. with that, i see them coming back to try to cause problems, the russians. >> there's a gravitational pull. the russians trying to subvert. that's something secretary rice spoke out diplomatically. she spoke about it as a negative on "meet the press". >> it's not the interest of ukraine, russia, europe or the united states to see the country split. it's in nobody's interest to see violence return and the situation escalate. >> what is she trying to communicate on behalf of the united states? >> well, i think she's trying to be deliberate without being more antagonistic. that's a tough line to walk. very clearly, it's our obligation to stand up for our principals. that's what's at stake. that's what the youth want. they want democracy. they first became independent in '91. it's been a deliberate process. i think we're trying to walk that fine line. >> these mass uprising have
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become almost commonplace. we have ukraine and venezuela. before that, iran. we have had syria. for whatever reason, these mass democratic uprising are cropping up all over the world. do you think washington is figuring out a way to deal with these as they come up? >> well, either that or it has accidentally turn out better this time at least to this point. you know, there's an interesting dynamic going on here. all of this is going on around the world. americans are realizing how little power the united states has one way or the other way. for all the political discourse in washington about what the president should be doing and should not be doing. a lot of this is out of his hands. and i think americans are both frustrated by increasingly coming to realize we don't have a whole lot of say here. with the ukraine in particular, three days ago they were e still demanding president obama gets
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sanctions in place against the government there. clearly, in retrospect he was following a more prudent path. it's not clear he's being told now to take a tougher line with russia. it's not clear if he gets more bell cos because americans don't have an appetite for any sort of involvement over there. >> americans have little to no appetite for involvement over there. we have little ability to control what goes on on russia's doorstep. if putin sends troops into ukraine, some will say well, we must defend ukraine. we must do the same. i don't imagine any appetite for americans to put boots on the ground to counter what putin would do. >> no possible way. going into the black sea, are you kidding me? it's a choke point. a lot of problems. no way to even consider logistically supporting it. so i think what we've -- you know, we can agree upon is the principals.
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using our principals as a guiding light, being there to be supportive, not to be directly involved is the best possible thing we can do. to be the big brother you can rely on. and the eu is there too. i think that's the best thing we can do. don't forget we won the cold war. i think that's what we need to do here. clearly the people of ukraine want to be free. we should give them every opportunity in any nonlethal way we can to move in that direction. >> some people have a fantasy that america can control everything that happens everywhere. thank you very much. up next, the woman who could take down the most powerful republican in the whole senate. the cycle is rolling on the first monday in our new set. we will break that down for you in a minute. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.
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you stand by your principles but you figure out where you can agree and how we can come together. but that's not happening in washington today. senator mcconnell is the biggest part of the problem. he's wasted decades blocking legislation that would have helped kentucky and our country. and it's over the last few years he's done it for the worse possible reason, out of spite. together we can change that. >> and change that she actually could. in the latest poll, grimes is leading mitch mcconnell by four points. and little more than a quarter of voters hold a favorable opinion of him.
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>> whoa. >> the primary challenge from his right and general election heat on his left, could this actually be the the end of the five-term senator? here to discuss this wild race in the home of the wildcats is democratic strategist erica. thanks so much for joining us. >> glad to be here. >> so i've been thinking this over. it seems to me there is a reasonable chance we could end up with the odd situation. this is, by the way, not what i'm cheering for. but the republicans win back the senate and mitch mcconnell loses his seat. >> yeah. absolutely. this is a really tight race. he should be concerned. his poll numbers in the state of kentucky are similar to the president. so not great. she has a good shot. any challenger has a two-part job. the first is to convince people to fire their current representation. the second one is to convince them to hire her. so she has to spend a lot of time going out now that people
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are convinced they might be looking for new representation. it's not enough to just not be mitch mcconnell. they distinguish her from the president and mcconnell. >> let's drill down on that point there. i metal son in kentucky a few months ago and felt her to be a very impressive person. who is she and what is the case for her? >> well, i think unfortunately a lot of case for her is a case against mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell has been voting against kentuckyians. it is one of the lowest in terms of health care. high rates of cancer, diabetes and people uninsured. that's one big example right there. minimum wage is another example. overall i think the reality is that people are tired of senators that don't want to do business that just want to say no. mitch mcconnell has made it very
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clear since the presidency started in 2008, his goal is to make sure that things do not move forward. he wants to put a stop. they're tired of washington stopping. so she's a very interesting person. she's state-wide elected official in kentucky. she comes from a political family. she's very personable. she has a lot of energy. and, you know, people are interested in new blood. she will have to stake her position clearly on coal. it's a coal state. she should talk about the things she wants to improve on the bill. repeal isn't the only way to go. we actually have to make the bill better and an opportunity to work with what we've got. and so i think articulates it well, how kentucky can be doing better. what she can do for the middleclass she has a good shot and compelling case. >> she should have hired you for her spokesperson.
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>> i want you to take off your tv hat and put on your campaign strategist hat. what would scare you the most about running against mitch mcconnell in the general election? he is canny. he knows the state better than anybody. what would be most concerning to you? >> that it's mitch mcconnell. else he is not a lightweight. he's a very good politician. he's very smart. he's very strategic. he is one of the best people in politics, one of the top four or five people in the game. so that's a really, really big concern. you can't go after a big dog and not expect to get a little dirty here and there. the other thing would be money. he's got 11 million cash on hand. yes, he is spending in the primary right now. but he's in a continuum. he has a shot at being majority leader in the senate. he will fund raise very, very easily. she has to post big numbers.
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the fund-raising quarter ends at the end of march. she has a good poll. she can take to donors. she can say max out to me in the primary, in the general because i can do this. >> i like the campaign strategist hat you put on. it looks good. >> thank you. >> i would like you to take it off and put on your social media hat. we're going to put on the screen what you get when you go to her landing page right now. to the points you have just been make, when you do a search for grimes, the page says retirement mitch mcconnell. you just gave an interesting background on the candidate. but this seems to be a strategy where they are banking on mcconnell winning his republican primary and remaining the foil as you said. do they have a backup plan? >> well, i think it's the first step. as i said before, challenger has to convince people to fire the current representation they have. so that's the first step. but she's going to have to move on to the second step, which is
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who am i, what do you get by me? it's not like just selling doritos, is it delicious, yes or no. i like these chips. a lot of people will like her but not vote for her. what you don't want is a situation where people hold their nose and voting for mccouple. >> right. >> if you look at the poll numbers, they're both in the mid-40s. nobody has hit 50%. to win an election you need 50 plus one. i tell people aoeupit's a lot l sports team. it's going the take a lot to make me suddenly a seahawks fan. so at the end of the day -- >> watch it. watch it. >> that name doesn't bother you, though? >> you're speaking my language. >> put that on the list of things that bother me about the redskins. >> krystal and i are big hawks fans. >> okay. if you would now put on your obama care strategist hat. >> whoa!
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>> it's a government entitlement hat. >> protective hat. >> my socialism hat, you mean? >> you nailed it. so anyway, you were alluding to this earlier, very unique landscape in kentucky regarding obama care. the president has been touting it as a real success. the governor has really gotten behind it. they are running their own website. it's working really well. people are getting covered. so what is the obama care landscape like? how would you advise alison grimes to run with regards to obama care and how is mitch mcconnell positioning himself there? >> well, i think the first thing is most people who don't like obama care don't think it should be repealed. they just want their representatives to work on it, make it better. so the first thing is not to get caught up in the back and forth and all the rhetoric and the nastiness of the name obama care and talk about what kentucky is get. that's health coverage, which
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they have not had. a lot of people are pray something wishing and hoping they don't get sick because they could go bankrupt. you can't guarantee you wouldn't get hit by a car. everybody who does everything right still has bad luck. >> right. >> so at the end of the day people want this coverage. they're going to like it. more and more are signing you. they have had good enrollment numbers. they need to talk about how many people have coverage that didn't. if we were to repeal, they would lose that safety net again. people don't want to go back. they don't want to go back to when a pre-existing condition would mean you would get denied coverage. particularly with a state that has a lot of health problems. >> right. >> you don't want people with heart disease not to get covered. >> that's right. >> so keep talking about the things in the bill. separate from the name. yes, there are problems with it. don't be afraid to say certain things have not been working well so far. tell people how you are fixing
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it. people don't want an apology tour. they want to know what's coming next. what can you do. and that goes back to a real big contrast she can make with mcconnell who has not been saying what he can do to make this better. he only talked about repeal. she can say i'm willing to work on this. i want to do x, y, z going forward. a lot of people will be interested in hearing that. >> it is very real. and in a positive way for a lot of kentucky yanns. >> her hats are an obstruction. >> i agree. >> straight ahead, polar vortex returns. late night heats up. we get a cool new set. >> when? >> right now. the day we rescued riley, was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com
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chuck hagel announcing plans for a reduction in troop levels. >> levels we haven't seen since world war ii. >> we cannot shrink the size of our military fast enough. >> hagel recommended a reduction of about 30,000 soldiers by 2015. and further 40,000 to 50,000 by 2019 to meet a reduced budget and changing military missions. obama administration is calling for an increase in spending of $26 billion from the initial sequestration. and retirement from the hill. john dingell is 87. he simply said it is time to move on. he was elected when he was e just 29. he helped write and pass some of the most important legislation, including the civil rights act and clean water act. his wife debbie is considered a front-runner. >> how about that? remember the nice warm weekend on the east coast?
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it's over. the polar vortex is back. bring your popcorn and record low temperatures. it's all over the midwest, the great lakes, and of course the northern plains. even more bad news. a snowstorm impacting us up and down the east coast mid week. when will it be over? >> i don't know. but i know that's exactly what missouri officials were asking. bea hoffman and a seventh grader spelled words we can't even announced. they had to call off the competition when they ran out of things to spell. a spell-off will determine who will advance to nationals. >> the olympics are over. now we turn our world to our world. the changing look of tv as we know it. >> from studio 6b rockefeller
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center, it's the tonight show starring jimmy fallon. >> tonight seth meyers starts, following jimmy's late snow. even hbo's real sports have a new set and new open. here is the guy ronan who started two hours ago. and joy reid's premier. and good-bye piers morgan, which you will hear more about as his date is announced. >> this is the new desk in our new studio. and it's time for a tour. look at this amazing all glass table. >> it's lovely. >> i think it's beautiful. i'm proud to be here. >> it's so beautiful. that's not the best part. what is maybe most exciting about this whole thing is this extension to the table. we call it the head of the table. so when guests come and join "the cycle" she can sit right here with this. >> my favorite part, look at
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this space. we can do anything we want here. weather, rant, maybe a wine tasting. >> dance routines. >> show them a little dance routine. >> no, i don't think i'm going to do that. wine tasting. an elegant platform. it's cavernous. abb abby, ari, where are you. it's huge. >> over here we get to see the back drop of new york city, the beautiful brooklyn bridge. >> i think i see ari's apartment. >> it would be that way. >> a little local fact checking from a fellow brooklyn boy. one of the best things i want to show everyone watching at home, the most expensive alteration we did to this studio. we have a glass door opening directly into the the new york
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subway system. incredible. easy access to your work route every day. >> my commute just got way easier. >> if you want to join us, walk right through the doors. >> anything going by? >> i have been watching this a couple hours. i haven't seen a subway or any people. it's weird but we're excited to use it. >> check out more behind the scenes. there's a photo album on our facebook page. if you don't like it, we don't want to hear from you. the woman who weathered 106 set changes on the "today" show. jane pauley will be the first guess ever at the head of the table. that's next.
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what might be next. ever since that day almost six years ago when i came home from the hospital with two babies, change has been less intimidating. >> jane pauley has been a legend in this business for a long time. graced the sets of the "today" show, nightly news. we're honored to have our first guest on our brand-new set, author of the book "your life calling." thank you for being here. do you want to talk about the set? >> love new stuff. i love to redecorate. i totally bought the subway thing. >> how are you at the head of the table? >> good. >> we made this just for you. >> that sound bite you used of me talking about change and what's next? as you get to be in television as long as i have, you tend to see yourself recycled a lot. i have not seen that particular
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clip. how did i miss that? because i was then 39-ish when i was i talking about change and what's next. i haven't been 39 for a long time. i think it just shows a couple of things that it shows. people in their 30s are thinking about the future. >> sure. >> are now, were then. and i have been kind of consistently excavating this territory for decades. >> so your book talks about that. restarting. for you restarting after tremendous success. you have stories of other people who may not have had the same success but also find pivot points in their life to restart. >> or hinge points or whatever you want to call it. yes. it's not just a matter of
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starting over. it could be jump starting something you're current my doing. it's predicated on the reality, the global demographic reality that people are living longer. so what are you going to do? it's time to spend or time to invest or time to waste. it's not a matter of finances. it may or may not be inspiring to get a new career. some people just need a job. but i have found on a book door that i have been on that people in their 20s, like my millenials. i have a lot in common with them. people starting again and people just starting. we do have a lot in common. far more than i had with my own parents. i would never have thought. i'm 63. when my parents were in their 60s, i wasn't thinking what they were going to do next.
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my kids are. they don't want to be responsible for me. they look at their parents and they think, you know, you've got good years left and get off the sofa and make a move. >> something i love that you have said is that you're not as fames on as you were anymore. >> really? >> i totally agree with that. i was reading a fun interview with "usa today". you were talking about fame and how fame is gained so much quicker today. it's not earned like it used to be. >> i didn't earn it. i turned up on the "today" show when i was 25. i did not earn that. >> you made people want to watch you. >> i'm not trying to put myself down or anything. >> you had a wonderful and long career. people today put out a youtube video and they're famous. it makes many of us feel insecure if we're not well-known, if we're not somebody. >> talking about news cycles, there isn't a news cycle anymore.
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it's just constant. >> right. >> in my day i used to joke about having a contract in 123-week cycles. seriously? >> yeah. >> but now everything is so fast. you just -- you all take it for granted. and in a way it's kind of new for me. but what's been thrilling about the book tour is just connecting with people. actual humans. i know they're watching. but on television you don't necessarily connect. >> abby loves humans. >> i do. what has been thrilling to me is that my message was irrelevant to fame. >> right. >> because the people i am talking to, i am now a person who needs an introduction. for some members of the audience it's, jane, how are the twins? but for others it's, who? >> right. >> but then they listen to the message. and a woman stopped me after i
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did a webinar recently. she was early 30s and from turkey working in this country. and she followed me down the hall. she wanted to talk to me more about the message. so not only is she not my demographic. did she know who i was? no. she's from turkey. and yet working in this country at a rather high level and yet still thinking about that there was more in her life. >> right. >> already in her early 30s. but she and i had this connection. it was thrilling. >> it was like a campaign trail almost. connecting with people like that. and i think your book, even though it is targeted a lot people of your demographic, i think it does speak to a lot of individuals. it's just the reality of the economy today. >> it's the gen xers.
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this is all we talk about. >> right. >> i don't think it's an age. >> where do you find that inspiration for what the next thing might be? because stepping out and reimagining your life and having that pivot point is a scary thing. you have to have something you feel like is worth taking the risk for. >> well, i think -- someone asked me about stepping out of your comfort zone. no, you don't need to step out. that sounds scary. push it a little bit. stretch your comfort zone a little bit. but i'm not -- i'm not afraid of being on television and, you know, live television doesn't scare me. a lot of things scare me. change doesn't scare me. that 39-year-old woman you saw earlier, i was not afraid of the unknown. but apparently that's in my comfort zone. i don't want to step out of my comfort zone. so what my advice is, stay in your comfort zone. just test the the limits.
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>> reimagine yourself. >> just stretch it. >> but if you think of it as stepping out of your comfort zone you will be paralyzed. >> the book you talk about boomers who get to the end of the first year and realize i have years to go. >> decades. >> yeah. decades. i have to find another career. >> maybe in the a career. >> even if it's an amateur. >> i have to find a second act to keep myself interested because we are living longer. roger talks about being in his 90s talking about old people have an unincreasing need for deep attachment and love. we yearn daily and hour for company at the movies, visiting a museum, for someone close by in the car while coming home at night. this is why we throng match.com and okcupid. is that second act love? >> thank you. i met a woman in st. louis named gladys.
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and gladys came over to me and i said hello to her. she was with other women. gladys strides over to me. her story was that she had redecorated her room. maybe assisted living. i don't know. she decided to go modern this time. i love that story. but her question was, how does someone over 90 reinvent herself? and i totally punted the question. but then i saw her at the book thing. she and her three 90-something girlfriends sitting in the front row. she stayed in my mind. and i realized gladys is a woman with a gift for living. and then i thought about one of her girlfriends was in a wheelchair. kind of reminded me of my mother in her later years. and i'm thinking, how often does
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gladys get those two other women on the of the house? it was a january night in st. louis. and these three 90-something women are out to hear an author lecture. i'm thinking about gladys. she has a gift of living. and i want to get back to her and say you have a gift for sharing your gift for living. and sometimes all you need is to have that articulated. she might look at me and say, well, all right, jane, tell me something i don't know. or she might think, i never thought of that before but you're right. and knowing that is the structure you need to define what you're going to do today when you wake up. how will i share my gift for living today? >> i love that. >> yeah. >> i love that story. >> you've been in a lot of people's living rooms and touched our lives. >> thanks for inviting me. >> jane pauley, thank you very much.
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blessing. variety one is out with its best picture poll of 835 of last year's biggest blockbusters. joining us from variety is executive editor steve. great to have you. >> fun to be here. thanks. >> full disclosure. i love matthew mcconnaughey. i love matthew mcconnaughey's body of work. i'll just put it out there. let's look at the top 10. it mirrors the films, nominations for best pictures. mine is "12 years a slave." who will win the golden statue? >> it looks like a two-horse race. probably the indications are that it would be in these two pictures. it would be "hustle" is the third position.
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>> i love matthew mcconnaughey. true detective. >> not nominated. >> what i want to ask you about is martin scorsese has been nominated so many times by the academy but only picked up one win. does that play in here, whether people want to lean in a little bit more, give the nod for wall street? >> i think it plays in. and it played into him get a nomination. but you have to remember there's potentially 10 best pictures nominees and only five director slots. and he got one of the five. this year there are nine best pictures. so he has been acknowledged. in another year he would get the oscar. but i suspect not this year. >> steve, i think the best actor will be the most exciting race. everybody -- well, almost everybody in the category i could make a case for. i think matthew mcconnaughey
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will get it. and leo dicaprio. >> i disagree. >> all the other four have a chance. >> the suicide doors lamborghini leo? go on. >> "wolf of wall street." >> when he took the quaaludes, that was fabulous. >> a decent bit of writing there. ejiofor, christian bale. bruce dern. those four guys have put together a serious movie. they have a serious career. i don't think it will be leo. i was going to ask about matt. but the ladies would rather talk about leo. >> well, i will put it into context. at this point i think what everyone is praying for is a surprise. because you do get the sense that mcconnaughey is very much a favorite front-runner. you get a strong sense that cate blanchett is a front-runner.
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in one of these categories, most of us who have been following closely at variety, are praying surprises somewhere. >> and there are some phenomena actresses up for best actress as well. what categories do you think we could see the most surprising pick? >> you have jennifer lawrence. you also have june squib in nebraska. she would be of surprise because people are assuming it's one of the two other ladies. it's very competitive and maybe nebraska could surprise people. i feel like somewhere the nebraska love has to emerge, because i think the academy liked the picture a lot. >> we didn't get you to make a selection on best picture. we all know it is "gravity," versus "12 years a slave."
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i want you to pick the movie that you think is going to one. >> this is the $5-bet time. i'm going to put my money on "gravity." >> which one did you like the best? >> in terms of favorites, you're talking to an expert. i like nebraska a lot. we did the oscar poll. we went all over the world to film festival directors and critics and we tried to make it a larger tent. there may be some surprises when we come out with the world's best picture poll. >> el jlen degeneres is hosting this again. what else do you think we'll be surprised about? >> i would hate to follow tina fey and amy pohler.
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there was a poll this week that said, should the oscars even try to be funny? don't go the other way. i'm looking forward to her again. >> i would think you'd give more love to "her" than you have so far in this interview. >> i think it has a very good shot at winni inning screen pla. it was one of our ten finalists in "variety's" best picture poll. >> have you seen the lego movie? they have this whole theme song. >> they're clever. >> i feel totally up to date
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with the oscars. leonardo dicaprio, when he's going down the stairs and takes quaaludes, it's great acting. >> it's a three-hour juggernaut. >> thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. still ahead, toure tv. have we really changed the channel on marriage equality? ♪ [ 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 you want a loan to build you can't do that.ica? nobody builds factories in the us anymore... you can't do that. using american raw materials makes no sense...
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authentic self. >> james collins broke a glass ceiling yesterday. conservatives in many states are using the rubric of religious freedom to legalize discrimination against gays. it would let them refuse to provide services to gay weddings or refuse to do business with gay people if it offends their religious beliefs. similar bills have been introduced in tennessee, ohio, and oklahoma and mississippi. faith should be something we have to leave inside our house. i think that's fair. i don't think faith should be a blank check to be intolerant. i don't think business is such a religious gesture that they need the government to save them from having to do business with gays. should bakers be protected from
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baking wedding cakes with two tiny men on top? will arizona give us a new spin on their business law by making people prove their straight? a -- they are losing the battle against gay rights. they feel the tide of history rushing against them. they have found a new way to dress up their intolerance. why should we be intolerant for intolerance? i thought religion was supposed to make people better, but religion is being used to defend humanity's worst impulses. >> this is one of those problems when religion to enforce discriminatory practices. they used religion to defend slavery and go to war. people have criticized islam because they use religion to
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fight people and kill people. this is a problem. >> it's a problem here because christians are distorting the message of jesus. if there was one aspect of organized religion jesus opposed is the draw lines around the clean and the sinners. he emersed himself with sinners of all sorts. segregation, the placing of a group of unholy people outside of mainstream interaction was opposite of what jesus said. segregation is a disgusting inversion of both democratic and christian values. the lawmakers who are hiding intolerance behind religion freedom are putting themselves up to look silly like the pizzeria that said, we refuse to right to refuse service to
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arizona legislators. it is funny how just being decent is radical. that does it for us. do you like my new set? on to us, thank you again. the annual meeting of the national governors association, the annual meeting of a whole lot of people who want to be elected president in 2016. it's monday, february 24th, and this is "now." >> president obama -- >> hasn't had much success with a divided congress. >> i'm glad to engage in a dialogue with all of you. >> this is all pretty
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