opponents have dubbed it the right to discriminate bill. meantime, governor brewer is under pressure from a growing list of companies to use her veto power. those companies now include apple, american, and delta airlines, marriott, intel, yelp, at&t, and pet smart. also urging a veto, arizona's two republican senators and gop presidential candidate mitt romney. plus, three republican state senators originally voted for the bill. all that as the debate rages among ordinary people in arizona. >> i have a right as a business owner to say i refuse to serve you for whatever particular reason. >> got $12,000 to $14,000 in lost revenue to the hotel, and that itself results in almost $2,000 in local and state sales tax revenues. >> nbc's mike taibbi joins us

from phoenix. what do we know from the meetings today? >> reporter: well, the governor is going to be very busy today, tamron, she's going to have a number of meetings, one with the three state senators whom you just refer. we spoke to one, who expects to explain why he and his two senate colleagues changed their mind. as you say, originally supported for the bill believed it had nothing to do with lgbt or identity issues, that it was a religious freedom bill, as it says in the text, the words gay, lesbian, lgbt don't exist anywhere in the bill, senator pierce pointed out, so he did support and vote for that, along with his republican congress, then you saw the fallout and saw that whether there's a difference between reality and perception or not, perception is what matters, it's what people are reacting to. he said we made a mistake, we got to fix it.

he's going to go and tell the governor exactly that. then the governor is likely going to hear from the phoenix economic council. we spoke to the executive director. he said he's been speaking to the governor and her staff, to try to quantify the potential economic hurdle. if this bill should pass, if it should be signed into law by the governor. she will also likely meet with religious leaders, we spoke to some people on the fellowship christian church yesterday who asserted their right under religious freedom to refuse to serve who they decided they didn't want to serve. that issue, though, is going to be framed in a different way, largely economic and political at this point. governor brewer has until the end of the week to make her decision. >> we know, mike, the nfl, for example, released a statement, the nfl will hold a super bowl in phoenix, in arizona next year. says in part, "our policies emphasize tolerance and inclusiveness and prohibit

discrimination." the phoenix suns and the wnba phoenix mercury released a statement, "the phoenix suns and mercury are proud members of this community and we embrace fans, families, and businesses of every stripe. we cannot support anything that is not in the line with that philosophy." since you're on the ground, mike, i'm curious, are we hearing more talk about the money impact of this? as we know, they say money talks and the rest of it walks here. we see this economic pressure that is a cloud over this governor's head and she says she wants to do what's right for arizona. >> absolutely. it's a cloud, and it is a huge cloud. you're talking about an avalanche of opinion all cutting one way right now, as the governor's just returned to her home state here, the state she runs. she's hearing not just from the corporations, but people who know the institutional history of this state. don't forget, they lost a super bowl back in the '80s when the legislature and politicians,

including then-congressman john mccain objected to an idea of a national holiday to martin luther king. super bowl is worth, what, half a bill to this city? they lost hundreds of millions after the so-called anti-immigration bill four years ago. they are looking at this as big of a disaster as either of those instances and the one key difference is between this and the sb-1070, was a margin supported the bill, supported the anti-immigration bill. in this case, 70% to 75% oppose this bill. if the governor were to sign this bill, she would do it in a way that counterserene the opinions in the state. the governor has until saturday. >> mike, thank you. joining me live now, arizona democratic state senator, anna tovar, the democratic leader in the state senate. thank you for your time. what are you hearing, what is

the word from inside, will jan brewer veto this? >> well, we are very optimistic she will veto the bill, but again, every second she doesn't veto the bill is a black mark on the state of arizona. we've asked the governor as of yesterday to swiftly veto this bill when she arrived yesterday, the second she got off the plane. again, arizona is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. what we want the nation to know, that this bill, this mean spirited bill that legalizes -- legally sanctions discrimination, is not the arizona that arizonians here truly want this bill to go away, and we want to focus on the priorities of our state. again, arizona does not need or want this bill, and we are asking the governor to swiftly veto this bill. >> we do know there are some, albeit some now willing to say they don't want the bill who supported it in the beginning. you've got three of your colleagues, three republican state senators who originally

voted for the bill, now backing away from it. what does that say about the pressure on that state? >> well, it says that, essentially, arizonians don't want this bill, and although we are thankful for the three republicans that have come out and signed the letter, i stand with my democrats and with the lgbt community and the business leaders of this state that oppose this bill since day one. this bill should have never been passed, and never been sitting on the governor's desk. again, arizona, you know, in the past week has been thrown into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. we want people to know across the nation that arizona is a lot better than this and the people of arizona deserve better, and that the gop legislature, sad to say, does not represent our state. >> let me ask you this, though, if she does decide to move forward and veto this bill, you know that opponents have called this the right to discriminate bill and they are looking at

this through a moral compass. but in the end, this could boil down to money, and the governor seeing the damage that could be felt as a result of this bill. how does that make you feel knowing, yes, there is a moral argument, but her decision and perhaps that of the three republicans who originally voted for it who are not now supporting it, may be voted by the dollar and not what many see right. >> again, it is sad to say that one issue is weighing heavily more than another, but again, this not only from a moral perspective, from an economic perspective, gives arizona a black eye and puts us in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. again, we are asking the governor to swiftly veto this bill. this is not what arizona is about. arizona is open for business for all members, and we'll continue to push and be proactive in making sure that all people have

the right to be treated equally in arizona. >> thank you very much, arizona state democratic senator anna tovar, thank you for your time. >> thank you. as house democrats use a procedural tactic to pressure republicans to pass a minimum wage hike, their colleagues in the senate are now delaying when they plan to take up that very important measure. harry reid announced late yesterday, debate on the proposal is being pushed back a few weeks. reid now blames the delay on what he says is republican obstruction that is clogged up the senate's calendar. >> republicans forcing votes on matters that were reported unanimously out of the judiciary committee, so the obstruction continues. and it slows things down. people have a right to vote however they want, but it makes it a little tough around here when you have companies like gap who have 65,000, 75,000 employees, who have just done it. they've raised the minimum wage

already. >> despite the delays, senator tom harkin, who wrote the legislation, says he's confident it will pass congress before this year's midterm elections, but with republicans opposed to raising the minimum wage, it is unclear how democrats will get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. as for the tactic house democrats plan to use this afternoon, they will formally launch a discharge petition. now, this allows the minority party to force a vote on the house floor. joining me now, democratic congressman tim bishop of new york, one of the lawmakers leading the charge on minimum wage. sir, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having me on. >> let's talk about senator reid, saying this is the continuation of republican obstruction here. does that help solve the problem when you have words like that exchanged? >> well, i think it's an accurate reflection of what's going on in the senate, and i think it's important for people to understand that. in the house, i think the only chance we have of the legislation coming up for

consideration is if this discharge petition that i filed this morning is successful, we need 218 members to sign that. and i'm confident we'll get every one of the democrats to sign it, so we need at least, i would say, 18 to 20 republicans to sign it so that we can bring that up, so it will be interesting to see if we get any cooperation at all from the other side of the aisle. >> was is your feel at this point? not just in the house. i'm looking at insight in what's happening, for example, in the senate, to add to what's being discussed by senator reid. you do have some red state democrats, as you well know, who also face some tough races and may not be fully onboard with raising the minimum wage for their political survival. >> well, look, i think it's an issue that the american people support. poll after poll after poll shows that upwards of 70% of the american people support an increase in the minimum wage. so i think that the policy is absolutely right, that we should

give hard working people an opportunity to rise above the poverty level and that's what an increase in the minimum wage will do, but at the same time, i think the politics are right in that, as i say, 70% of the american people show their support for this. >> and speaking of some of the rhetoric around this issue, i want to play what louisiana governor bobby jindal said just today on "morning joe," where he yet again criticized the president as a so-called minimum wage president. let's hear what he said. >> we don't need to be doing things to make it harder for people to go to work. when i talk about the president's minimum wage economy, it seems like he is comfortable pursuing policies that actually expand the number of people on government programs rather than good paying private sector jobs, so my message to our legislators in d.c. or baton rouge would be, let's stop trying to create minimum wage jobs, let's create good paying jobs, and there's things we can do if we'll get government out of the way. >> congressman, your response to governor jindal. >> first off, he's factually

incorrect. what the increase in the minimum wage would do is it would take people and reduce their dependence on federal programs such as food stamps and programs of that type, because it would increase their wage, raise them out of the poverty level, and allow them to fend for themselves. >> quickly here, that's exactly what the cbo report that so many republicans point to as an argument against raising minimum wage, it also does cite that 900,000 workers would be lifted out of poverty. >> exactly. and that's something -- and that, as many as 27 million americans would see an increase in their hourly wage and over the course of the phase of this bill, they would realize an additional $35 billion in income, which they are going to turn right back into the economy, because these are workers that are working paycheck to paycheck and they are going to spend that money on the everyday necessities of life. the other thing i would say to governor jindal is we would welcome efforts in this congress to create good paying middle

class jobs, and every single effort either the president or democrats have engaged in has been thwarted by the republicans. the president is announcing $302 billion effort to expand our investment in surface transportation. that's the kind of thing that we need to do to put people back to work in this country, and i'm willing to bet that's going to get very little, if any support, from my republican colleagues in the house, and that's unfortunate. that's precisely the kind of thing we need to do. >> thank you very much. we'll keep our eye on the house and what happens today. thank you, sir. >> thank you. president obama is drawing the line with afghanistan. the president told afghan president hamid karzai in a phone call yesterday, sign an agreement to ensure the safety of remaining u.s. troops, or all american troops would be withdrawn by the end of the year. president karzai once again refused to sign this key agreement. in an interview today with nbc, joint chiefs of staff chairman

general martin dempsey, who's visiting afghanistan, talked about whether it is likely all u.s. troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year. >> of course it is, you know, in the absence of a bilateral security agreement, which is a commitment by the afghan government in the name of the afghan people, to invite us to stay, then i see no possibility of remaining. >> nbc news pentagon correspondent now joins us with more on that interview. mick, for people who do not know, this is an issue where karzai seems to be holding up the security agreement in an attempt to, as many say or have described it, get more concessions out of the united states for things that he wants. >> well, clearly, president karzai has indicated he's not about to sign any kind of security agreement with the u.s. now general dempsey points out that all the presidential candidates lined up to run in

the april elections have indicated they would sign it if elected, but those elections could take some time. now, general dempsey in saying that if there is no security agreement, there's no way he's going to order american men and women into the afghanistan battlefield, but he's also prepared to take the steps necessary if that bilateral security agreement is, in fact, signed. and for the first time, he revealed to us in our interview some of the details about that mission, should they remain beyond the 2014 deadline for the end of the war, and what he said was that he would not put u.s. military men and women in harm's way in that second tranche beyond 2014. what he said was that they would train and assist afghan military, but they would be at the very highest echelon of the afghan military, two and three-star generals. they would no longer be deployed

on any combat training missions. he said, of course, all of that has a high degree of risk there in afghanistan. but it would make american forces in afghanistan a lot safer than they are now, when they are occasionally exposed to combat. >> all right, mick, thank you very much for that live report. greatly appreciated. up next this morning, a new study indicates the number of far right extremist groups has fallen significantly. it is the first major decline in a decade. how the re-election of president obama may have drained energy from these movements. and former new england patriot aaron hernandez is reportedly accused of beating up another inmate while behind bars. the latest on the life of this fallen nfl star, who, of course, stands accused of murder. and florida's stand your ground law is allowing a blind man to get his guns back after shooting and killing his friend.

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so, welcome back. there's been a major reversal of a trend that skyrocketed after president obama was elected in 2008, that's according to a new report from the southern poverty law center that shows the number of far-right extremist groups in the country is plummeting. now, the center says the number of so-called patriot extremist groups dropped by 19% between 2012 and 2013, but the group says the potential for violence, though, is still very high. the report's author writes, "the

same groups that were galvanized by obama's first election and swelled dramatically as a result were demoralized by his re-election." mark podak joins us, the senior fellow at the southern poverty law center. thank you for your time here. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about the analysis here, you've seen this reversal after, and we've talked in the past, it seemed year after year these numbers were ticking up after the election of the first black president. >> that's true. they were growing based very largely on antipathy to obama personally and to what he really represented, which was the demographic change that's going on in this country. the calming over the next 30 years, loss of a white majority. the growth was absolutely spectacular for four years, but i think what really happened in part was when the radical right saw obama re-elected after so much effort on their part, as well as other forces in the political arena to kind of

dethrone obama, at this point their reaction was one of real deflation, of dejection, they had done everything they could. they did not expect to see obama re-elected, and yet he was. at the same time, of course, things like same-sex marriage are advancing very rapidly and all of that, i think, is really dism dismaying to these groups. >> how do you describe or define those groups that are on the decline? >> the patriot groups, that is their own name for themselves, patriot groups or christian patriot groups are what we all used to call militias back in the 1990s. they are a group that's -- they are a movement, really, that's unified mainly by a conspiracy theory, the idea that the government is secretly plotting to impose marshal law, to take americans' guns away from them, to throw anyone who resists into

concentration camps that have been built by fema secretly, and ultimately to force the united states into a kind of socialistic one-world government, so-called new world order. >> by some of the numbers we have, map of the areas with the highest number of hate groups, california, 77, florida 58, my home state of texas, 57 here. while that number, that declining number, certainly, i think should make people feel positive about this country and our ability to be an inclusive country, you say there is a potential for violence and it is still very high. what does that mean? >> well, i think that's very true. the reality is, is that when you look at patriot and hate groups together, there are still more than 2,000 of them operating in this country. according to our counts at the southern poverty law center, that is still almost twice as many groups as were operating in 1996, right after the oklahoma city bombing, which was really

the previous peak of the radical right. a lot of these groups have gotten essentially leaner and meaner, some of the moderates have fallen away and we're left with angrier kind of hard core groups that, i think, have the potential to produce just as much violence as we've seen from the radical right over the last several years. >> fascinating information, mark, thank you so much for your time. greatly appreciate it. right now, an international custody battle, a grandmom is fighting oregon state officials and their efforts to send her 6-year-old granddaughter to live with the child's father in a foreign country. we'll talk with this grandmom who is pleading for custody, saying that the child does not speak spanish and that her father is a felon and she is taking on the state. and the end of the so-called locked phones. new details about the plan that would allow you to switch phone companies without having to shell out more money for a new cell phone. it is one of the things we

thought you should know. and one colorado county is reporting just how much they earned from newly legalized marijuana sales. one county official is quoted as saying, jokingly, we have to sell more weed. nbc's harry smith is back from colorado with his report. and here's a look at what's happening today, february 26th. right now, president obama's on his way to minnesota. he'll speak in st. paul and focus on transportation issues and the economy. today, florida officials will likely release jailhouse video of justin bieber taken after his arrest for dui in that drag racing case. and certain portions of it said to be removed. and tonight, hillary clinton will speak at the university of miami at a reception for students, faculty, and invited guests. we'll be right back. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪

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grandmother in oregon hoping for a last-minute appeal that would keep her 6-year-old granddaughter in the united states before she is sent to mexico to live with her biological father. carrie's 6-year-old granddaughter is currently in foster care. her grandmother says that the child's mother has continued struggle with drug addiction and her father is a convicted felon who was deported after a dui and assault conviction. authorities want to send the child to mexico through a process formerly known as reunification and a court has ruled in favor of that process. "while the reunification procedure is a legal obligation to reunite children with their legal parents, the work of child welfare is always guided by what is best for the child. there are checks and balances in the system that include background checks, extensive home studies and collaboration with local services for the child."

meanwhile, this a letter pleading for her, she alleges the girl's father, "has a long documented history of alcohol abuse and violence and says her granddaughter has been diagnosed with attachment disorder." carrie joins me now, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> you've been vocal, i've read several stories on you at this point in this battle here. let me backtrack, when did you learn that your granddaughter, and by the way, we're not going to show -- we're not going to tell her name here to protect her and keep some privacy for the child, but how did you learn she could be sent to mexico to be with her father? >> that was in january at the last hearing that we had. >> and at that time, authorities knew of his background and allegations against him, which included a felony conviction for dui and an assault conviction, as well. >> correct.

the felony was actually a felony assault. >> so as her grandmother, you've made the case that she is safer and in a better environment with you. what have you told the court in this plea, this desperate plea, to keep your 6-year-old granddaughter? >> i've told them that he's a convicted felon, i've told them that he offered her to me for sale. during a phone conversation with him. he said when he was in tacoma holding facility, immigration holding facility prior to his deportation, he said that he would sign her over to me if i paid for immigration attorney to keep him here in the united states. i told the court that it was equivalent to human trafficking,

and that with her emotional issues, that it was the wrong thing to do to send her, essentially, to another world that she doesn't know. >> what is your worst fear here? listen, we do know that people with felony convictions in many cases, obviously, are allowed to keep their children. a conviction does not mean that you are not going to be able to care for that child, particularly if it's not an offense against that child, but what is your worst fear as her grand mom knowing that in the end she could end up there with this man? >> if, you know, i believe everyone should have a second chance, but what is not being considered here is as recently as february 15th, there was a conversation between the father and my daughter where he admits being under the influence of

alcohol and he admits lying to dhs authorities as to his living circumstances. >> i know that the state senator, jackie winter, was quoted in a local paper discussing the case and she said in part, "dhs could not speak to the specifics of the case because of its confidential nature, but i'm going to probe further. i'm not letting go yet." that's what the state senator said, so you have some support, but do you feel you're fighting the system in a way that, yes, this is her biological father, there is procedure to be followed here, but do you feel in a sense helpless, or do you feel encouraged by that one state senator who's behind you? >> definitely. i definitely do. i'm in portland, oregon, now, once i leave the studio here, it's my plan to return to salem and actually go to senator winters's office.

>> just quickly here, your granddaughter is in foster care there, as you've said, she's suffering from some emotional issues already. what is her life like at this point away from you and in care? >> currently, my granddaughter is -- the foster home she's in is thriving. dhs itself, in my opinion, has failed her, but the foster home that she's currently in, i believe has benefitted her emotionally and physically. her needs are fully met. i'm able to discuss with the foster parent any concerns that i might have, her last visit was very emotional. and i was able to discuss that with the foster mother to ensure that when she went for her next counseling visit that those issues were addressed.

>> well, in the end this battle continues and from everything i've read about you, you are not going to let her go without taking this to the very end of the legal system. kerrie, we will continue to follow your story and that of your 6-year-old granddaughter and wish you the best, as well as that child. thank you. >> thank you. up next, bill clinton and alison grimes follow what appear to be the democratic playbook for the 2014 midterms. bffs, nbc's mark murray is up next. ♪boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants... voice-enabled bill pay. just a tap away on the geico app. ♪ huh, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. yup, everybody knows that. well, did you know that some owls aren't that wise. don't forget about i'm having brunch with meagan tomorrow. who? seriously, you met her like three times. who? geico.

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♪ make every day, her day with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and designed to delight. fancy feast. love served daily. as we mentioned earlier, democrats are turning up the heat on raising the minimum wage and it's quickly putting republicans on the defensive in their 2014 campaigns. in fact, in kentucky yesterday, former president bill clinton riled up the sold-out crowd while stumping for alison grimes, who wants senate minority leader mcconnell's seat. both stayed away from mentioning the health care law, but as

today's "first read" points out, both clinton and grimes played the obama dem play book of 2014 by emphasizing the need to raise the minimum wage and reduce income inequality. >> i don't know about you, kentucky, but i'm not going to let any washington politician whose net worth is over $25 million tell me, tell us, that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour is going to hurt our economy. >> in the end, you can only have a lot of rich people if you have even more middle class people and all the poor folks have a chance to work their way into it. >> joining me now live, nbc news correspondent mark murray. we can see the direction in that race, as well as in many other key races in 2014. >> that was my big takeaway from

yesterday, is alison grimes/bill clinton event in kentucky, they were following the president obama script when it comes to the minimum wage and inequality and they were following it just to a tee, and you're going to see democrats all over the country in 2014, in red states, blue states, purple states, repeat that mention. and, of course, president obama's incredibly unpopular in tennessee. he's unpopular nationwide, and so there's a reason why he wasn't there, but it is interesting to note that his overall economic message is the one that was repeated by bill clinton and alison grimes yesterday. of course, republicans are going to fall back by saying obama, obama, obama, obamacare, obamacare, obamacare in states like kentucky and that might end up getting them the majority in the senate come 2014. >> you have governor jindal doubling down, tripling down, we lost count now on "morning joe," his opposition to raising the minimum wage. what is the polling showing here at least early on regarding where people stand? >> the polling shows it's very popular, and even half of

republicans support it, but whether it's half of republicans in congress is a whole another matter, but that could be something we see down the line, if we have some type of compromise with democrats, get it off the table where you don't have the alison grimes the world is talking about, that would be a strategic move like we saw newt gingrich make in 1996 when he and bill clinton signed the minimum wage raise increase in the law. >> thank you very much. quick first read, but we greatly appreciate it. the green is starting to roll in from colorado's marijuana businesses and the tax revenue is so good that one county official yesterday joked, "we have to sell more weed." that was pueblo county finance director hal hammler, after his county had tax totals two months after the recreational sale of marijuana became legal in the state. the county's two recreational pot stores, shops, sold nearly

$1 million worth of marijuana last month. that generated about $56,000 in local sales taxes, exceeding expectations, most of the state's 160 rec stores are located in the denver area and officials expect the state to take in a total of $134 million in taxes this year. joining me now, nbc news correspondent harry smith shaking his head, who was deep in colorado to investigate the pot rush. we had the gold rush a long time ago. >> silver rush, lead rush. >> who saw this one coming? >> nobody, except the people inside. and i think it's especially strange for us here, because there's no medical marijuana anywhere around on the east coast. you go there and it's so normalized, and then you add then the legalization and the doors have just -- it's a flood of people saying, i'm going to buy, i'm going to partake in this new freedom. >> and you make a great point. we were talking in the

commercial break that in states where medical marijuana is legal -- >> it's de facto legalization. anybody who wants a prescription for it can get it. it's not hard. so in that way, that's part of the culture and has been part of the culture in those states for a long time already. for me, i was like a foreign tourist. i'm going to a land i have never been to before, and as this whole thing has been unleashed with legalization now, too, it's just added to the sales. and these companies are exploding in terms of they can't grow the stuff fast enough. they can't make the stuff fast enough. >> the county official joked that we need more weed. the governor, though, john hickenlooper says the jury is still out on this thing, is the quote, but when you look at these dollar figures here, it sounds like the jury has spoken. >> in terms of dollars and cents, but what we don't understand yet and what hickenlooper's point is, this is a great social experiment. you look back at the end of

prohibition, 1933, the country said part of our social contract is, we know what booze does, we know people will abuse it and get addicted to it, we don't know any of that as we add this new intoxicant to what we do every day. so as that comes along, there is sure to be some kind of cost. are people going to drive high, are they going to go to work high, are they going to have accidents? what's going to happen to that. >> we kind of know if people were willing to do that, they could have bought pot illegally. >> no question, and there was an underground pot business forever and ever and ever, now it's above ground. look, people are saying, i'm down for that. >> just quick -- you're down for that, harry smith. listen, what was the tone from people in colorado. do they see this as a source of pride and saying, listen, we've done it, we've done it right, we've proven it? >> i think hickenlooper is saying, everybody who's lined up behind us, let us see how this

plays out, so -- >> he's a lawmaker, so he's got to do the company line. what about everybody? >> i'm saying there are plenty of people who agree with that and a lot of people -- i used to work there and i lived there for a long time, old friends of mine are a little weary about all this, but anecdotetally, you know where they go at 6:00? go to the pot shop. just saying. >> thank you. >> that's real life. >> he's saying, just reporting. you can see more of harry's report, "american in america: colorado pot rush." i'm going to stay up past my bedtime to catch it. we'll be right back, i do know somebody. 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.

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the bristol county sheriff says hernandez and another inmate got into an altercation yesterday. staff at the bristol county house of corrections are still interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage to figure out exactly what happened. neither inmate was injured seriously. hernandez was then moved to a segregated housing unit with only a few other inmates as he awaits trial for murder charges. now the former patriots tight end pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of oden lloyd. joining me right now, mike, thanks for joining us. i thought that aaron hernandez, because he's a famous person, was in a separate part of the jail from the start. how did he get into the general population, or did this even happen there in general population? >> he is in a separate part being housed with other inmates. the question is, what really happened yesterday. there was some type of fight. he's been segregated for more than 200 days since he's been incarcerated on charges of first-degree murder in connection with the murder of oden lloyd. what happened yesterday, they

are going over video surveillance tapes. sheriff hochen talked to reporters earlier today, would not say who started the fight. would not say if if there was taunting involved. there is an investigation underway and there's the possibility that hernandez could face charges in connection with the fight pending investigation. but right now it's really up in the air as to what started that fight. >> absolutely. this adds to the problems that he had the most serious -- is the murder charge. oden lloyd here, what is the latest on his defense and this process moving forward here in this case? >> right now there's a gag order in the case. and his defense is obviously once more -- wants more documents and data from the prosecution as to what evidence they have against hernandez. that's winding its way through the court system. so far there's no trial date. there are three other defendants in the case and these people are being grilled. drips and drabs are coming out

in regards to the documents, but the case against aaron hernandez are still unfolding and there are a number of court hearings that need to take place later this year and later this month and next month. there's also the question of the murder weapon. so far according to sources we have, law enforcement sources, they still have not found the murder weapon in the oden lloyd slaying. >> wow, all right, mike, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks a lot. well, up next, a new stand-your-ground controversy in florida. a judge is, quote, reluctantly returning guns over to a blind florida man acquitted for killing his friend. it is the news nation gut check. , he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop.

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there's a lot going on this morning and here are some things we just thought you should know. ben affleck is in washington,

d.c. today to testify before the senate foreign relations committee regarding the ongoing crisis in the democratic republic of congress gogh. this video just in with him meeting with john kerry to discuss the issue. the bill would let people switch mobile carriers without having to buy a new phone. the cell phone freedom bill will allow you to unlock your current phone and use that phone when you go to another phone company. when your contract expires. you don't have to buy another phone. wouldn't that be awesome? those are things we just thought you should know today. time now for the news nation gut check. today is two years after trayvon martin's death and less than two weeks since a florida jury failed to reach a verdict in the death of 17-year-old jordan davis. and now this, a blind man who was shot and killed or shot and killed his friend will be getting his guns back. john rogers was acquitted of murder last month. under that state's stand your ground law, he shot james dewitt after a night of drinking in

rogers home. last week the judge said if he had a choice he would not return the guns, but legally he has no choice. rogers was partially blind in a construction accident and says he needs his guns for protection. what does your gut tell you? do you think that john wayne rogers should get those guns back? under florida's stand your ground law? go to newsnation.msnbc.com. that does it for this edition of "news nation." our third day at our new time. thank you to everyone who participated in our google-plus chat. next up, msnbc's secretary of state john kerry will join andrea mitchell for a live extended interview from the state department. that's next only on msnbc. it's time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. christina wilson had a network of friends, opera singers, actors, musicians who needed part-time work. and she had a sense parents were in the market for creative

babysitters, so she started sitter studio, and now those artists are taking care of kids across the city. for more, watch "your business" on sunday morning at 7:30. o a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? right now on this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" live from the state department, my exclusive interview with secretary of state, john kerry. what's next for ukraine?

the civil war in syria. the nuclear talks with iran. and the man casting a long shadow over all of these issues, russia's president, vladimir putin. we'll coffer all that and much more with the secretary of state already live almost 350,000 miles in the name of american diplomacy. and good day. i'm andrea mitchell live from the state department here in washington. secretary of state john kerry joins me here in the treaty room. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> a lot of cry says to cover, but first is ukraine. vladimir putin issued a drill to mobilize troops in western russia. how worried should we be about the military action into