even back to 9/11. why are some of us so quick to go for conspiracy theories? looking at you. i'm toure. we have a harvard scholar at the head of the table. he says there is a simple way to debunk that. >> does the news cycle ever get to you? not our "news cycle," the information we are flooded with 24-7. we will speak to a philosopher who says it is time to turn it all off. wait. >> some data has been deleted from the simulator and forensic work to trooretrieve the data i ongoing. passengers, pilot and crew remain innocent until proven otherwise. for the sake of their families i ask that we refrain from my speculation that might make an already difficult time even

harder. >> breaking right now, malaysian investigators are heading to china to bring furious family members of flight 370. while here in the states, fbi teams are start a forensic an am sis at the captain's at home flight simulator. take a look at this scene this morning in malaysia. >> this mother's raw anger and emotion just one of many that's now boiling over. imagine, 12 days not mowing what happened to your loved one. the fbi public is trying to provide some answers. agents are working to retrieve deleted files from the captain's flight simulator that were wiped out in february. we don't know if they were deleted to hide evidence or if it was routine maintenance. the fbi is also digging through copies of the co-pilot's hard

drive. nbc news now knows that the plane's reroute was likely programmed into the flight management system before the last automated data verse and before the final transmission. the australians are narrowing their search along the southern core do to a 120,000-square mile area in the southern indian ocean. that's based on a new data analysis of the plane's likely fuel consumption. adding another theory to the table, supposed eyewitnesses on a tiny island say they saw a low-flying jumbo jet just hours after flight 370 disappeared. malaysian authorities discredit the eyewitnesses but as the past 12 days have proven the malaysians haven't been the most forth coming with position and tend to shoot down every new theory often walking it back days later. so we are not saying that that's the case here. but it is important to keep that in mind. nbc news' kerry sanders is tracking the search and investigation from washington. what details do you have on this

search area off australia's coast? >> first of all, the area that is now a little bit smaller than it was, down to 102,000 square miles, west -- let's take a look at the map here. you can see the area here. what's interesting is not only is it smaller but the flight time there, because it is smaller, is now down to about 2 1/2 hours. it moved a little bit east of where they initially thought. that means that the u.s., which has a p-8 there, very advanced anti-submarine aircraft, along with the p-3 planes that are in place by both the navies of australia and new zealand, they can cover a tremendous amount of distance there and spend more time there than was initially thought. it will still take weeks to cover the area. bottom line is when the plane gets will it cover 10,000 to 20,000 square miles because of the electronic surveillance equipment that is onboard. now, these planes, the p.-18

down in an area where the sea state is really quite a mess. we have nine-foot seas there. the knots are -- winds 25 knots and so it is a very strong wind. which means that if there is floating debris, it may have made a long journey from where it started but the good news is that the p-8 that made its way to australia is the same plane that had been earlier working up in the morning regions of where the search area was and between that and the p-3 plane they found more than 400 items floating on the surface. none of it had anything to do with the downed plane. but it was the discovery of the items that gave them the confidence that the equipment that they are deemploying here is actually going to find something if it is indeed there. >> kerry sanders, thanks for the details. let's now bring in former commercial pilot jeffy beady. a former fbi cia and delta force terrorism expert. now teaches national security studies at the university of new

haven. tom casey, flight instructor and former boeing 777 captain for american airlines. let's start with you, jeff, and talk about the captain's at-home flight simulate wror. should we read anything into the fact that some groups and data deleted from the hard drive? >> i think that any time that there is an overt act, you have to say, well, might that happen? from what i understand the data was believed to have been deleted on or about the 3rd of february. what's that tell us? it tells us that if, in fact, there was data there he was concerned about overseeing, it was going to be gone on the 3rd of february. that makes me as a former fbi act say to myself, did he perhaps plan on -- if he was involved, doing this act earlier? how many times in in the past month has he flown this route? but for whatever reason bad weather, intended destination or for whatever other reason, he chose not to execute this plan on the day until the day welfare

days ago when he did it. i would be very curious to see how many times since the -- date he deleted the fog and -- until the airplane went missing, how many times he flew this route. i would be looking at the weather, different locations, to see if that might have influenced his decision. again, this is speculation. until we know something more definitive we have to look at all the possibilities. >> time is also running out. the batteries on the black boxes work for a mop perfect we are looking at 18 hours. 18 days rather to detect the pings emitted from them. then how do you pull information out of them once they are found? >> the fact is that the information is -- digitized. as long as it is not destroyed it will be available indefinitely. how do you find it? the search time is the enemy in any investigation. the longer the time interval the

greater the debris field will be dispersed and the less focused they can be on where the actual black box might be. remember, air pranfrance 447, t found debris almost immediately but it took them two years to find the black box. this becomes a really crucial element that -- retrieval of data that will be meaningful to an understanding of what is going on in this mystery. i have to tell you this is excited -- a tremendous interest. we all travel. there is a certain dread involved with a mystery of this kind because even though the planes are designed brilliantly to stay in the air, they are, we are in the second century of aviation, the -- the design overreach we saw in the first century has been resolved. these are great airplanes. the human factor is an issue and becomes the issue we all begin to take a look at. terrorism pilot intervention or interventions, what have you. >> jeff, the human factor and i think that's -- folks are

talking about -- race between china and the united states to find this thing. we have the toronto star newspaper says this is a chance for the two rival powers in the pacific to show up with what -- show off what they can do in a real-life humanitarian mission across one of the most hotly contested regions. this seems to be rather disruptive, have it be a competition rather than a cooperation. >> well, i agree with you. i think that having had an opportunity recently to work with in government leaving at the end of september, that, in fact, humanitarian assistance is a big mention for the u.s. forces in the pacific. it is an opportunity to work together. i think that if there is any competition, it would come under the heading much friendly competition, i would hope. and we would be able to, in fact, consolidate. we are in different places. but totally consolidate our efforts and make sure we are covering the search area. remembering that we are all in a support role will.

the malaysians and it is their airplane. they are the -- in the lead for what actually happens in the search. that's the position we find ourselves in. >> we would hope, jeff, everybody is working as best as they can and working together, friendly competition, as you say. but many people have said, well, are the malaysians being fully forthcoming? the information that they have. some -- outside this country are saying is the united states being fully forthcoming? folks are saying what about the time, the type owes, thai government why are they take sewing long to bring in military radar. it seems to me there isn't always serve cooperation. >> of course, their first pry sort their own national security interests. do you want to reveal what your radar capabilities are for people who at some point in future you may find yourself in armed conflict with? that's what's holding back some of the people regionally to talk about what they found. the united states, you know, the

united states has been relatively quiet at the highest echelons about what is going on here. you would bet that there is more going on here than we know and if in fact that -- in a positive way the airplane has been taken and taken someplace. will may be a ransom going on with the malaysians. the united states may be aware of what is going on. in the meantime, the search continues but these are all possibilities and -- you said something earlier. we talked about the act. the act of him deleting data off of his computer. terrorists acts, if it is a terrorist act and the sake of the families, there are several scenarios that could end up with family members still alive. not to hold up false -- out false hope. we haven't i will name i am natured the possibility they are still live. terrorists operation, or my criminal operation, starts with a plan. goes into casing. goes into rehearsals and then there is the actual act.

if we can't find a lot about the act if we go back and look for rehearsal indicators, like what may have been on his flight simulator or like other trips here the co-pilot may have taken into the region and into possible places where they may have taken this airplane, we may get additional clues that will help focus the investigation. i know we are all focused on the arc and tom can probably help us on this. there is's a lot of places in the world that are within the range of a 777 flying out of kuala lumpur that are not necessarily friendly places or would cooperate. you draw a line off of the last heading of 270 and it takes to some interesting place. >> going back to timeline that we are talking about here, there are two actions that sort of make people scratch their heads. one is the turning off of the transponders. the other is the reprogramming of the flight path. what are the non-nefarious reasons --

>> that's irrelevant because you have different files. that's a diverse flight plan. that's part of the 777. if you go to -- if you are flying out over the water -- >> common. alternate -- >> if you had a problem midway between an ocean crossing, you will have a flight plan from your present position to the nearest suitable airport. suitable airport. not every airport. one that can accommodate the airplane, pass engines and any emergencies or any repairs that might be necessary. >> what about -- what would be the non-nefarious reasons for turning off the transponders? >> turning off the transponders is a training act. there is no real reason to do that. that's the thing that indicates intervention. then we go to intent and the big question why. if the intent was to hijack the airplane, they want to take it someplace. unless it is suicide mass murder. suicide mass murder is rather heavy prays to pay for just the disappearance. why do you want to make an airplane disappear?

what's the point? >> so many questions. >> so many questions. too many questions and not enough facts. >> not enough answers. >> novelist. >> thank you. we are now up to date on the latest flight 370. if anything breaks you can be sure we will bring it to you here on "the cycle." we will dig into conspiracy theories. why as with the missing malaysia flight people feel compelled to put together all the clues. do the conspiracy theories help in the search for the truth? next, the end of the post-cold war calm. final phrase in russia's takeover of crimea is over. chris murphy joins us live as "the cycle" rolls on. business: do more with less with less energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy.

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. cycling now the crisis in ukraine at a boiling point. as the acting president's deadline for crimea militia to release a captured u.s. navy chief came and went a couple much minutes ago. he was taken hostage after forces stormed the base ask raised the russian flags. vice president biden overseas as all this is happening. he had some of his harshest words yet for vladimir putin. >> russia has chosen to respond with military aggression, a referendum rejected by virtually the entire world and illegal efforts to annex crimea, and now reports of armed attack against ukrainian military personnel and installations in crimea.

we stand resolutely with our baltic allies in support of the ukrainian people and against russian aggression. >> while no shots were fired in the takeover russia's military escalation is making a diplomatic solution even more urgent. with capitol hill still squabbling over a resolution, bipartisan group of eight u.s. senator just arrived home from ukraine and we have here with us one of them. more chris murphy, democrat from connecticut. you are in connecticut now. welcome home, sir. >> thanks. >> the biggest challenge seems to be trying to comprehend putin's calculations. we try to get close to russia's foreign minister and then putin refuses to answer his calls. then we slap on tougher sanctions and then putin puts them right back on us. and at this point we still have no idea what his next move will be or how far he is willing to go. after spending time over there, what other options do you think we have? >> i think you hit the nail on the head. people ask to -- me to describe

what the mood was in kiev when we were there last weekend. it twaens but also confused because they just don't know what putin's next move will make. i think that's likely because putin is making this up as he goes along. and what we -- know right now is that holding crimea and crimea only does not do much for putin. it makes him a pariah. all of russia's support in the parliament in kiev disappears and so it guarantees that the 95% of ukraine that is non-crimea is going to sign an association agreement with the european union. there has to be a next move. even as a member of the foreign relations committee, chairman of the european subcommittee i don't know what his next move is. i'm not sure many people in kiev or washington know either. >> will was a valuable op-ed from mitt romney and "wall

street journal" about all of this. talking about how obama had squandered his time in foreign policy over and over again. he says that in foreign affairs as in life there is as shakes pier had it a tide in the affairs of men taken at the flood leads to fortune, omitted all the voyage of their life is in miseries and reads to me like foreign policy fan fiction. don't you just love the right-wing carping about the lack of presidential belicosity? >> their here they right that this perceived weakness of obama is somehow precipitated the invasion of ukraine. the invasion of iraq would have convinced putin not to go after georgia in 2008. the fact is that putin had a had the extra territorial positions whether a president is republican or democrat. what we know is that ukraine just a couple of weeks ago was totally under the thumb of russia and now virtually all of ukraine is oriented towards

europe and i maintain that that's in part because both the president and congress has taken a strong stand in pushing the rest of ukraine towards us. i mean, all of this partisan on behalf of romney and others is just politics. i think most people see through that. >> you sort of anticipate the question i was going to ask you, whether you thought that russia -- putin's move pushed ukraine further into the arms of europe. let me ask you another question and that -- relates to the concerns of the nato allies. as we have been reporting vice president biden has been in the region visiting our allies. do you think that the concerns of states like poland and lithuania, estonia, are there concerns about putin's next move valid? >> so i don't think that there is any reason to be concerned that russia is going to move on the baltic states or poland today. that being said they are right to, you know, cross their ts and dot their is to make sure their

defenses are in order. here is the real problem. if this aggression goes unchecked and don't don't deal a body blow to both, then five years from now maybe he will be crazy enough to think that he can make a move on a nato ally. five years ago it was ridiculous to think that he would make a move on ukraine. these next few weeks are really critical. we have to take the next step now that he has shown no remorse and no willingness to de-escalate and have to impose sanctions on russian banks and on russian oil companies and we have to do it in a bipartisan way. i think that we will when we get back to washington next week. >> we wanted to get your thoughts on one other issue. you are peg to us today from your home state of connecticut which, of course, was the site of that horrific and tragic shooting in newtown. gun safety has been one you have been thinking and talking about a lot and working on. the president nominated a terrific can't date for surgeon general, dr. murphy. the nra has come out in

opposition to this choice because of his advocacy on gun safety. do you think the nra will get their way here and block murphy from being confirmed? do you think he will make it through? >> well, i didn't think the nra would get their way when they decided to stand against back ground checks that were support bid 08% of the american public. i was wrong. why? because i underestimated the power that the nra has over this congress. so what we immediate the do is as a movement that supports safer streets and safer schools is to build a political movement that gets people out of congress and that supports the nra and not their constituents but that's going to take a long time. this murphy thing is outrageous and holds the same position the american medical association holds anding to suggest that there is not a correction between gun violence and the health of our communities spend a little time in place like bridgeport or new york or chicago and you will see that kids are being affected every single day. not just by gunfire but about by the trauma that essentially

means that kids are leaving with rates of ptsd in the cities and that are comparable to soldiers coming back from iraq. i don't know what's going to happen with this nomination but our fight against the nra will be a long one. >> senator chris fur my, we a-- we are glad you are home safe. up next the conspiracy behind conspiracy theories from the ukraine to the missing plane. wait, i think i got it. the russians hijacked malaysia flight 370 to divert attention away from the annexation of crimea. putin has been in the co-pilot seat before. okay ladies, whenever you're ready. thank you. thank you. i got this. oh, no, i'll get it! let me get it. uh-uh-uh. i don't want you to pay for this. it's not happening, honey. let her get it. she got her safe driving bonus check from allstate last week. and it's her treat. what about a tip? oh, here's one... get an allstate agent.

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a billion dollar bombshell leads off the news cycle. that is how much how much toyota agreed to pay to settle a criminal investigation over sticky accelerator pedals. the defect turns some cars into runaway death traps and led toyota into recalling 10 million vehicles after the high-profile death of a highway patrol

officer and his family. the feds accuse the auto maker of concealing the problem because they were worried about bad pr. eric holder told the conduct shameful. >> the third largest jackpot in mega-millions history, $400 million will be split by would luck write winners. the winning tickets were sold in southern maryland and central florida. we still don't know who bought the tickets but just advice from your friendly cyclist sharing is caring. other gambling news, millions of americans are rushing to fill out their march mad must brackets. and today the president unveiled his. clearly he has no shot at winning because he has virginia getting knocked out in the sweet 16. i cannot believe it. maybe to youre can. final power matches. >> hello. >> he is backing arizona, michigan state. our executive prur, the godfather.

steve friedman. michigan state to win it all. >> whatever that was. back to our top story, agonizing wait for answers about what happened air board malaysian flight 370. malaysian investigators claim to have new radar data but refuse to say where it came from. after 12 days without any solid leads it seems everyone has a herey about what happened. some of them, let's just say, more out there theories than others. from north korea hijacking the plane to a meteor hitting it to an alien abduction and even a photo shopped picture of it landing on the moon. the malaysian plane mystery is the latest story to spawn conspiracy theories galore. how do they take hold and why do they leave such a lasting impression? well, a new book seeks to answer those questions 37 it is written , "conspiracy theories and other dangerous ideas" and compiles

the most controversial essays that became fodder for conspiracy theorists themselves. the most dangerous man in america, according to his book jacket, joins us now. thanks for being here. >> you look so mild-mannered. >> you write with b this missing plane mystery which really has all the makings of a great conspiracy theory, doesn't it? >> it definitely does. whatever there is a tragic event or something terrible that happens in the world and it doesn't have a ready explanation, people seize on an answer, they want to rye to explain what seems inex-plibl kabul and sometimes it is comforting especially when your sad, desperate or angry to come up with something out there. >> that's the thing. a lot of people love a conspiracy theory because it provides hope and a positive alternative. it takes a certain type of person to believe in a conspiracy. how do you know if you are one? >> a lot of people can introspect immediately and know whether they are tending to believe conspiracy theories or not. but there are people also who have a sense of personal powerlessness and who actually tend to want to conspire

themselves a little bit and more inclined to be conspiracy theorists and sometimes people that believe one conspiracy theory such aspirin cess diana staged her own death are likely to believe another conspiracy theory that is logically incompatible with it such as she is still alive. that tends to suggest there is something going on in the head of some of the -- >> you don't want to be one of those people some they are theories are true but it is good to scrutinize some of the more outland i shall ones or ones that are evidence-free. >> conspiracy theories we have seen that led to waco, oklahoma, that bombing there, the unabomer, have to make governments nervous. have to make governments say, we can't just let all of these sort of wild ideas roll around. we have the first amendment and people can say what they want. what should governments do to be sort of countering the ideas to make sure that too many people -- small number of people, too many people, don't get sort of excited and want to do something that harms the other citizens. >> yeah. one danger is that you get people who are from -- violence

and not in the united states, usually other countries. another danger of people believing in a conspiracy theory as of the orderism of vaccination link, won't take steps but are pore to protect their children. the first thing to do really, i think, is to tell the truth. and if the government knows the science and it can find people who are trust worthy and people are skeptics to get the truth out there is a good thing to do. when you are trying to combat a conspiracy theory and telling the truth is important and maybe not enough, you need to be able to appeal to people's own convictions and their own view of the word. otherwise it will fall on deaf ears. >> right. >> cass, conspiracy theories are, you know, find homes on the left and right as a few examples that you bra up. we have seen a lot of impact of right-wing conspiracy theories especially under this president and in particular the idea that he was not born where he says he was born. he was born in a different country. you write about the fact that

conspiracy theories can be particularly bred particularly in close-knit or isolated social circles and to me there seems to be a wling there i think of all the changing mills that steam the fly around about this or that political conspiracy theory. >> completely. in a democratic society in which people are exposed to a lot of different ideas, false conspiracy theories are less likely to live and breathe because things get corrected. and in a society that's totalitarian people tend not to be able to trust anyone else. there are conspiracy theory a might be true and b, it is likely to spread and even in democratic societies if you have people who are talking mostly to one another or at least listening mostly to one another, then you can get something pretty outland i shall that's believed and that the truck here was -- really important to see is that about a lot of things that politics with the public domain we don't have direct personal knowledge, we have to rely on the people we trust and we don't trust anybody or if you trust people that are in some isolated network you can really go wrong. and that can be not so good for

democracy and it can also breed a kind of political polarization and the worst case is dangerous. >> that's a great point to end on. thanks. up next, "meet the press." no, it is not sunday already. janet yellen gives her first newser as if fed chair and president obama sits down with the locals pushing to raise the minimum wage and economics and politics collide here. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that.

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hurry. offer ends march 22nd. weight watchers. because it works. market alert as new practical reserve chair janet yellen just wrapped up her first news conference as head of the central bank. reporters peppering her with questions on everything from instability in ukraine to unemployment and inflation. the overall response stay the course on the recovery. the fed announced it will continue tapering off the bond buying stimulus by $10 billion a month. investors were expecting the news stocks did take a tumble. the dow now down triple digits. law investors around the globe

listened to every syllable coming out of the chair's mouth. president during round robin interviews with a handful of local stations around the country pressing this important issue. the message on that and other second-term agenda else seems to be falling on deaf ears in washington. if no one is listening how can we begin to get anything done. joining us now for washington bureau chief, john stanton. one of the ironies here is congress tends to be a bit skeptical of the fed and yet because of their dysfunction, they have essentially handed all of the economic power over to janet yellen and the fed. >> yeah. it is interesting. i think she has been -- good about having a steady hand. i think watching some of the press conference, she was pretty realistic about what she said the -- there are head winds in front of the recovery, it has been disappointing but that they are going to continue to sort of -- on the course they are on

and does believe they are going get the inflation targets and other bench marks that will start to mark a path poured and a little more aggressively. you know, congress really has very little ability to do much in this political climate. senate democrats want to do lots of things. house republicans have their own ideas and they are still polar opposite. it is up to the fed and janet yellen to do any of the work at the federal level. >> you are absolutely right. obviously about what is going on in congress. we have none of the ideas on either side can actually get enacted. but, you know, it is a midterm. the election is right around the corner. talking about that a lot. even if there is no movement in congress, what the democrats are doing is framing themselves as people who are for policies and will help working people. why unemployment insurance, minimum wage, those sorts of things. and republicans are framing themselves or being framed as people who are blocking policies that will help working people or people who walk to work and this seems to me to be a framing that's electorally valuable for

democrats. >> absolutely. i think -- it is interesting the republicans after the last election and last sort of -- four, five months sort of bought into this idea of let's have a fight over income inequality, helping the poor. they haven't really dunk much except for accept that as a battleground. democrats have tried to roll out policies and have the traditional background of agenda else that they have done or pursued and that allows them to do things like talk about minimum wage which i don't think whether get done this year. stranger things have happened in an election year. it does give them the ability to sort of create their own narrative going into november when given the fact they are facing things like foreign policy problems, the president is having now, obamacare. they need something they can work from and this is -- i think it helps them. >> john, there is an interesting question. have you the president giving local interviews to press folks in local markets pushing minimum wage but politico had a story yesterday talking about how the

rich are strike back, striking back against the populist message that sort of has been the mantra for at least the last year. which do you think is right? in your last answer you said that this populist message could be something the democrats could work with going into november. or is it -- what politico is reporting that the rich are the ones who are driving the agenda within the democratic party? >> you know, i think that -- the wealthy have always had a role in some of this stuff. it is odd to watch wealthy people come out and start talking about this. they are sort of -- typically come up tone deaf, when they start talking about the issues. i think democrats, as long as they keep it to, you know, this sort of -- income inequality and trying to lift people up, not going too far and dash towards like a living wage but increasing the minimum wage, those are the kind of things i think a lot of americans, at least resonates with them to a certain degree. whether or not that can overcome their distrust of the president or the general malaise of a

midterm election. i'm not so sure. that helps it out a lot. having wealthy folks come out and attack them that also benefits the left. >> you say stranger things happened. we will see movement on this. the result the president has been traveling the country talking about raising the wage and having dash a wage that the american people deserve and yet we have seen little action on the receiving end not much has come of it. republicans that have said this is simply a nonstarter and what john boehner said. the president's policies are makingivity difficult for employers to expand employment and until the president's policies get out of the way employers are going to con to sit on their hands. so, john, is his agenda a dead issue? do you really see something happening over the next two year? >> i don't honestly. i think maybe there might be something right after the election and in a lame duck. at that point he becomes a real lame-duck president. attention turns to the 2016 election. i don't know that dashes especially if you lose the senate he can get anything done with -- controlled by republicans. again, you know, clean air act

amendments and amendments passed during an off-year election. will are moments that come up in july or august or september that creates space for things to happen and in a year like this. i won't say absolutely not but i would be highly surprised if something did. >> you are saying we got a chance. john stanton, thank you, as always. >> thank you. up next, we will get into conspiracy theories. 

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we have been talking about conspiracy theories today in way they are fun but i think in a way they are very dangerous because they blind people to the sort of reality. they give you a cocoon out of which you don't have to search for actual realistic things. you can say that the information that we are being given is meant right -- you know what i'm talking about. meant to blind to you the facts of the reality. >> do you have to say it like that? >> yes, we do. we have to ignore "the new york times" and the reality and focus on the stuff that i got on the internet or what my friend told me. and this sort of -- >> wait. i got this crazy chain e-mail about what you are talking about. >> right. >> it has to be true. >> shadow government. right? there is always a shadow government that's controlling things. think about all of the talk i heard about -- it makes me cringe. even somebody like jay-z who comes to the project can be in this. it is like, seriously?

if will was actually one he would never get in! right? the little things he puts in his video are not like he is wikileak. you don't know but i know. come on. tupac is not still live. no. >> i want to give your thoughts before we move on. jay-z in or not? >> definitely in. definitely. >> all right. >> i think will is a difference in believing in conspiracies and liking conspiracies. i think we all like a conspiracy. right? especially as it relates to this plane mystery. i feel like everyone we talk to is convinced that they know exactly what happened to the plane. it is like they are all still live. it land order some private airport and sitting in a hangar and someone held them hostage. it landed on the moon. it went in the sea right away. i feel like -- everyone -- i'm surprised at how many people i talk to are so convinced in their mind that they know. it is fair. we have been given so many

conflicting pacts about what -- still very confused about it. conspiracies provide hope. there is optimism. i think a lot of people want to believe he is people are still alive. they want the believe the plane is still somewhere. >> broadening out i think that -- the internet and the democratization of information, as i call it, is the oxygen upon which now conspiracy theories thrive. the idea that i think -- cass was saying this on camera or when we went to commercial, about how because we are basically in these silo communities, we live -- i think it was a question asked of cass. in our own little cul-de-sacs and we only believe the people that are in there with us and if we see any information that comes from anywhere else, month matter how credible it is, if it is not from within our own little community, we don't believe it. >> exactly what to your toure does. >> that's when it becomes dangerous.

then anything that goes against what you believe, what you got in that chain e-mail from your buddies that you trust, anything that goes against that is a lie. >> that's the different information. >> that's evidence in itselfyou >> we're harded in the conspiracy. but it's in a human thing, right? because human beings are created to make -- piece together these facts and make them into stories. >> yes. >> when you have a situation like the plane disappearing, by all accounts the facts that we no are bizarre and strange, and people naturally have this instinct to try to make some sort of sense of it and grab this piece from there and that piece from there -- >> we want to know. >> -- and make it into a story, that's what we do as human beings. but when it's polarized right versus left, political philosophy issue, it gets dangerous. >> i don't think it's about hope most of the time. there's an evil, invisible hand that is controlling everything.

and it tries to make the world simpler than the world is. the world is complex and we try to make it simpler with our narrative impulse imperative. but the world is more complex and random than we imagined to be. imagining that there's this evil, invisible hand, this group of folks above all of us, who we could never ascend to, are controlling everything, i find that concept very frightening. >> depends on the conspiracy, right? if it's about wanting people to stay alive, there's a lot of positivity. that's what i'm referring to. that's what i like about conspiracy theories. i want to assume the best. >> true, you do. >> the plane, you know, the various scenarios that people are cooking up, there's the more plausible, the fire, you know, there's various other theories -- >> but no evil on the plane. >> things speculated commonly on the internet. you have the chinese government, x, y, z, or the u.s. did this to distract from that.

that's when you get to the outlandish, more dangerous fringe type of stuff that again feed into the sense of people that the world is out to get them and they're -- if they can put their finger on it's this group that is doing all of this stuff that has all of this control, then it gives them some sense of those are the people that we need to fight back against. >> yes. >> we have a plan of something. >> guess who some of these conspiracy theories, it's the biggest puppet mast, it's us in the media. how many have you gotten e-mails the media won't report this or that. i was thinking, remember during the trayvon martin situation and the picture of him in the hollis terror t shi-shirt-shirt, e-mait the media show the real e-mail when he was killed that night? the picture circulating was a picture of a 34-year-old rapper

named the game. >> the person said to me, i've got this from somewhere who is a trustworthy source. >> right. >> right. >> that is a person who is not in the media. when we have conspiracy theorys that say it's the government, the american federal government, they're coming to take your guns, that becomes the big problem. next, capehart has a news flash for the gop. [ female announcer ] grow, it's what we do.

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one year after issuing a truth-telling autopsy of the drub everything of the 2012

race, gabecause of people with color and other, the republican party celebrated looking the other way, literally. in a series of ads, gop features the gorgeous mosaic of america, african-american, asian-american, and hipster, proclaiming, i'm a republican, and then finishing the sentence with calls for an all of the above energy policy, smaller government, and opportunity while looking somewhere that wasn't the camera and talking to no one in particular. a perfect metaphor for the gop's ongoing problem with people of color. dick army said it best on page 10, you can't call someone ugly, the former house majority leader admonished and expect them to go to the prom with you. that's what the gop did last year in word and deed. steve king from iowa, denigrated la the latinos last july. >> for everyone who is a

valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. >> senator lee, half-term government of alaska sarah palin had no problem being seen with anti-obama conspiracy theorists at the million vets march last october when he said this -- >> i call upon all of you to wage a second american nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience and to demand this president leave town, to get out, to put the koran down, get up off of his knees and figuratively come up with his hands out. >> nary a word of denunciation from leaders of the republican party or the unfurling of the treasonenous flag in front of the white house when it made its

way to the home of the first black president and his family. one of the many explicit expression of disrespect for this president that many won't for get. yet, rance priebus told sean hannity last november i think president obama should take ownership over this divisive culture he's created. yes, the gop deserves some credit for doing behind the scenes work to reach out to minorities but that will only get the republicans so far. they say they want black votes but still trying to make it difficult for blacks to vote, see what's happening in ohio, and priebus' home state of wisconsin, they know electoral salvation rests in the hands of latino votes and know reform will secure it, but continue to block any action on comprehensive immigration reform while blaming said inaction on, quote, widespread doubt about the president. as we know, autopsies are done on dead things, which means the gop is among the walking dead,

and no group of attractive people playing roles on tv commercials can bring this party back to life. okay. that does it for "the cycle". "now with alex wagner" starts now. it's officially the last day of winter, and chris christie would love to leave the season of his discontent behind. it is wednesday, march 19th, and this is "now." ♪ >> reminded of the peanuts character, pigpen, you know, he has that cloud of dust around him. in some ways thash is what chris christie is facing. >> christie dragnet keeps getting bigger. >> trying to move past the controversy. >> these are supposed to be friendly territory for him. >> listen, i -- i write, i don't need to read your budget statement. >> the biggest problem, might be about his