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tv   News Nation  MSNBC  March 26, 2014 8:00am-9:01am PDT

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good morning, everyone, i'm tamron hall, and this is "news nation." we begin with that devastating mudslide in northern washington state, at least 24 people are now believed dead. after ten more bodies were found just yesterday. two of the bodies were recovered, eight more were spotted and will be pulled from the pile of mud and debris some time today. nearly 200 people are still reported missing. in the next hour, officials will provide an update on the recovery effort. and msnbc will bring that to you live. and right now, rescue teams are still looking for survivors, combing through that debris with their bare hands in some cases in drenching rain, but so far they've had no luck. >> unfortunately, we didn't find any signs of life. we didn't locate anybody alive. >> no one has been found alive since the mudslide hit without
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warning on saturday. tearing a one-mile path of destruction in a small rural town, 911 calls revealed the horror from that day. >> there's like a mudslide and everything's gone. the houses are gone. i got people here screaming for help. >> my neighbor's house and their neighbor's house has been completely taken out. and it's collapsed on several of them. and they're trapped. >> last night, residents of the nearby town of arlington held a vigil for the victims. nbc's jennifer bjorkland has been covering this for us from washington state. let's start with the situation as far as the recovery effort. i was watching nightly news last night, i know a few people were able to get into the critical areas with some of the heavy equipment there. what's the status right now? >> reporter: the status this morning, 200 boots on the ground, and their number one priority, is to look for air pockets and still continue with the rescue effort, looking for air pockets and survivors.
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however, the other priority is to get recovery crews in there to recover and identify the eight additional bodies spotted yesterday, tamron. >> as far as what they are able to accomplish today, we mentioned the rain, mentioned the tough terrain, some folks even on atvs trying to navigate through there. take us -- give us the perspective, jennifer, that you've seen. you've been there for a few days now. how treacherous is it to get in there and find if there are signs of life at this point or recover those individuals who have died? >> reporter: it's almost hard to describe it. the fire chief yesterday was talking about how the rain had come and it turned the mud that had started to dry out and be exacted into a slippery surface that was almost like ice, navigating around in there in rubble, in sticks, in trees, and slippery mud that's very cold, hampered by wind and rain, very, very tough.
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they are doing their best, but in some cases, the best tools they have are their hands to just pry through the wreckage. and it is very dangerous. they were talking about how cars that had been crushed weren't just crushed, but they were torn into pieces, so there's raw metal, there's broken glass, there's nails. hazards of every kind in that pile. >> yeah, and also we're hearing from a lot of the survivors or family members who are looking for their loved ones. there was a woman, for example, who thought she'd built her dream home, three construction workers on the site helping her with the home, two of them managed to escape, a third had not been found as of last night, and that's just one of the stories that are coming out of all of that tragedy there. >> reporter: there are so many stories and so many family members who are here that wanted to help in the search the first few days. it was a desperate time, because they weren't allowed in. now that they are coordinating with some of the urban search and rescue crews and the
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national guard, they are able to go in and yesterday we heard from a family looking for their son, a navy commander, who is in his home with his wife. they found his body, they found the body of his dog, he was with his dog. his wife is still missing, but a father and two brothers finally able for days wondering if he was alive and helpless, now knowing that it probably happened instantly. and they have their answer, you know, they have their answer. that's a tough answer to have, but at least they know. >> jennifer, thank you very much. for more on what conditions could have led to this deadly slide, let me bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. obviously, bill, attention has greatly been on the malaysia flight 370. this catastrophe and how this happened. i saw this over the weekend and it was like a punch in the gut. once you start to see these images of these homes completely covered in mud, i think this is
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slowly sunk into people the devastation that's there and we are naturally now wondering how this was possible. >> well, when you think of all the threats, you know, tsunamis and earthquakes and tornados, all the natural disasters, landslide isn't on the tip of your tongue. you think of a couple boulders coming down a hill or something, but to have a whole community get swallowed, we've never heard of this before. this is new, kind of different for everyone. let me take you through what a landslide is and what circumstances led up to this one. i'll show you the facts with it. this is a broad animation. landslides happen on a steep slope. you get a lot of excess rain that helps loosen up the soil. the trees and brushes and vegetation help hold the soil together, then if you don't have the vegetation and get enough rain, gravity's going to take over and everything's going to flow down the mountain. landslides can be slow or very fast. if they are fast with a lot of water involved, they become
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mudslides and that's what happened here. let me show you what we've been dealing with, go over to weather one. this is a top picture, this is the before. the bottom image is after. this red shack we have here in the top, that's in both images here and as we look at the river that goes through here, this river is the biggest reason we had this landslide. this is the river that undercut the mountain. it's happened before in the past, happened in the '40s and '50s and as recently as 2006. in the last eight years that's getting worse and worse. you can see the landslide area on the top here. the landslide starts on the very top and then came down after that. it's about a mile wide. the speed, 20 to 30 miles per hour, tamron, they are saying the speed of this. you think about you're hoping for air pockets, unfortunately, water and mud, it's not like
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boulders, it creeps and goes everywhere. we're hoping maybe someone in a car or something, but as time goes by here, it's getting more and more unlikely. >> i saw one woman say they recovered, bill, an suv and it was crumpled so small that it looked like an all-terrain vehicle, that an suv had been compressed by the weight of that mud. we're going to talk later about the conditions around there and if there were warning signs. people are asking if folks should have ever been able to live in that region because of the propensity of mudslides, but i have to ask you this earthquake that was reported, a small quake, what impact do you believe that really had on the conditions, if any? >> you never know if a small one would have helped. this is just a disaster in the making, whether it happened this week, two weeks, next fall, it was going to happen sooner or later. history has proven and shown that and experts that did the surveys there. we don't have video of this happening, this is going to
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probably end up killing more people than the mt. st. helen's eruption did, just snapping trees in half and roaring down to the valley, that's what happened here. we just don't have video and pictures of it. >> all right, bill, thank you very much. we have the images of the aftermath and it's frightening to know families are looking for loved ones in that. thank you, bill. we're also, of course, following the latest news following the search for malaysia flight 370. malaysian officials are calling it the most credible lead they have after new satellite images captured 122 potential objects in the southern indian ocean, about 1,600 miles from perth, australia. >> some objects were a meter in length, others as much as 23 meters in length. some of the objects appeared to be bright, possibly indicating solid material. >> now the images were captured by french satellite sunday, close to an area where other satellites previously detected
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large objects. meanwhile, a dozen planes and five ships were back searching the area today, after weather forced officials to suspend the effort yesterday. now crews believe they may have spotted some objects, but when they went back around the area, they were unable again to locate them. while the search zone habanero has been narrowed, it is still -- taken the first step toward a potential multimillion lawsuit against malaysia airlines and boeing, the manufacturer of that aircraft. the white house gives americans extra time to sign up for health care days before the deadline. officials blame a surge in demand, but republicans call it another delay in the failed law. we'll talk live with congressman james clyburn. also ahead -- >> i didn't feel safe being transported by the vehicle. >> okay, this one is
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unbelievable. a woman rushingo the hospital, she's inside the ambulance, decides to take mass transit instead. why? she says the medics were arguing with her in the ambulance. that army vet will join us live to tell us what happened there. plus, a couple headlines that are more than skin deep. tv host, rapper, nick canon is defending pictures of him in white face, this as an african pop singer is reportedly whitened her skin to improve her image. why these stories are hitting a nerve. and right after today's show, i'll be answering your questions live in our google plus hangout. start sending in your questions. a lot of you have done so, go to our website, please use t the #tamchat on twitter. you can also find m me @tamronhall. we'll be answering those questions right after the show. we need it right away! we cannot let the fans down.
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the obama administration is sparking new criticism over another delay of the health care law, this time it's for those who've already attempted to begin the enrollment process. open enrollment is set to end next monday, march 31st. however, administration officials say they are experiencing a last minute surge in demand and are anticipating even more last minute enrollees. in order to give more time to those who are already in line to enroll by monday, the administration is pushing back the sign-up period to mid-april. as politico points out, the announcement is now the tenth significant delay and it's spurring more criticism from opponents of the law and also comes as the president, his administration, and democrats overall, are trying to make a
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last-minute push to get more enrolled. joining me now, james clyburn. sir, thank you so much for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> first, let me read what reince priebus, the chair of the gop, said regarding this delay. he says in part, another day, another obamacare delay for the same obama administration that won't work with republicans to help americans suffering from the unintended consequences of the democrats' failed health care law. sir, let me get you to respond to that and put this in perspective, this latest delay, in your opinion. >> well, all i'll say to that is, consider the source. i find it kind of interesting that someone who will not support any kind of modifications or any kind of improvements that could be made is belly aching about the fact that we want to accommodate people who have started the process before whatever reasons have not been able to conclude
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them, but that's not all that unusual for some of my republican friends. they are the ones who have closed the voting booth door with 50 or 60 people standing in line, so i'm not surprised at that. they would much rather see efficiency epitomized, rather than be effected in what we try to do in making government work for everybody, and that's what the white house is trying to do, be as effective as they possibly can in helping people who need the affordable care act for their existence. >> well, it is accurate to say that most of the opponents and critics have been republicans, but you well know, some of your democratic colleagues who may be in tough races or in areas that are red have been critical, as well, and i want to play what democrat senator of west virginia said, joe manchin, who was on fox news today.
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here's what he had to say a short time ago responding to the delay. >> there could have been marketable ways to do this, and that's what we asked for and i just assumed they'd delay this also, because we delay big businesses, small businesses, unions, why not delay the individual who is the brunt of this? >> senator manchin says he's been asking for a delay and co-sponsored a bill to that, why are we seeing it announced today when the alarm has been sound prior to today? >> well, the fact of the matter is, senator manchin and i like him a whole lot, he is arguing for more delay, so why are we criticizing this delay while arguing that there should be other delays, as well? you can't have your cake and eat it, too. the fact of the matter is, no matter what we do with this new law, as is with all new laws, some people will be satisfied, some people will not be satisfied, what we have to do is try to be as effective as we
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possibly can, getting people out of emergency rooms, getting people into situations that allow them to have a better quality of life and not worry about whether or not to take, eat food, or take a drug that they need to take in order to better their lives. that's what this is all about. it's not going to be perfect. i'm one of those who felt this was delayed the launch, and i argued for that in the beginning. i thought we went out too quickly, and now we are trying to make up for that, so delay can be good, but at some point in time, you've got to pull the trigger and get this thing going, and hopefully come back and fix it at some later date. >> something that's also been delayed in the minds and opinions of the american people is an increase on the minimum wage. 58% of americans say they are more likely to vote for those
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who support a hike in minimum wage. 29% say they are less likely. you have been critical of the minimum wage in your state of $7.25, which has not been raised in ten years here. where is the traction right now? especially when you look at the polling that indicates people are willing to vote for people who say enough is enough, let's raise the minimum wage. >> well, my friends on the republican side have made some calculations. they decided that the people who will benefit from the minimum wage are not inclined to vote for them for whatever reason, and they are not going to do what is necessary to accommodate those people. i would hope that people who are in need of a raise in the minimum wage will remember when it comes time to vote that these people who will talk one way and act another are not the people that ought to be investing in when it comes time to electing people to represent them here in
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the united states congress. this is absolutely absurd for us to say to people making $7.25 an hour that after ten years, you're not deserving of a raise. they would not do it for their corporate supporters, and they have not done it for their corporate supporters, so why do it to the workers that need to have a better quality of life? that's what this is all about, trying to improve the quality of life of people who are, for whatever reason, may not find themselves as fortunate as a lot of us are. >> well, we will see what impact the debate over the minimum wage will have on the midterm. sir, thank you for your time. we greatly appreciate it today. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. we are following breaking news just in, osama bin laden's son-in-law has been convicted in a new york courtroom of aspiring to kill americans after the 9/11
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attacks. he could face life in prison when he is sentenced on charges of conspiracy and aiding al qaeda. we'll be right back. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ [ mala body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic.
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earn unlimited double miles with no blackout dates from the capital one venture card. forgetting something, sir charles? what's in your wallet? we've all heard the widening income gap between the richest americans and everyone else, well now meet the longevity gap, highlighted in a "new york times" article, focused on two counties, fairfax west virginia, and mcdowell county in west virginia, just 350 miles away. the contrast in that 350 miles is startling. the median household income in fairfax county is among the highest in the nation, $107,000, while in mcdowell county, it's under $23,000. what's more startling is the divide in life expectancies. in fairfax county, 82 for men and 85 for women. in mcdowell county, 64 for men,
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73 years of age for women. joining me live, the reporter behind this article, annie lauer, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> this piece stopped me in my tracks. it is stunning. first, these counties, break it down to us and so much is based on industry, you know, where were the jobs, where do the people traditionally work, how did that impact the numbers we're seeing when you look at these two counties? >> it impacts them tremendously, and part of the reason is that people who tend to be a little bit healthier, better educated, often gravitate towards places like fairfax county, because there's a lot of jobs, things like defense contracting or working for the government, but there's just a really thriving local economy, lots of businesses, lots of shops. what you see in places like mcdowell and other depressed rural areas of the country, you have a lot of people remaining and the industry remaining is not a lot to provide a great quality of life for a lot of
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people, so mcdowell, the primary industry is coal and it's been in a long-term decline, and that's true throughout areas throughout appalachia and other parts of the country. the people in these counties live different lives. >> why is it in your research these two counties represent this large conversation, not just nationally, but globally, that we are having of the have and the have notes, if i'm going to put it in simple terms we all know? >> what's most interesting about these two counties is not just that there's a large divergence, but the divergence is growing, and we don't quite know why it's growing, but it is. it seems to probably have something to do with lifestyle factors, but it's very hard to sort out what's what, and in part that's because people move between different counties, as i mentioned before, but we know some things. we know this is not just a story about rural areas and urban areas, it's not just a story about different races.
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it's a story about all sorts of different factors, and life expectancy, even at the age of 65, is diverging. it's not just a story about younger lives versus older lives, and so, you know, internationally, there's some countries that are seeing the same effect, where the longevity gap is expanding, like in england, but other countries like canada, it isn't, and researchers are fascinated by trying to figure out what it is that accounts for it. >> especially fascinating, as you know, as we debate health care law and the right people have to proper health care, and when you look at this life expectancy number, that doesn't stop you in your tracks, i don't know what does when you see the life expectancy, the gap between these two counties for men, 82 in fairfax, mcdowell, 64, and we see the numbers there in plain sight for women. is this the ability to afford health care, is that a higher
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income provides higher education, less stress? what are researchers seeing here? >> i really hesitate to call people's lives experiments, but nevertheless, we do have this great experiment moving forward about how the expansion of coverage is going to affect things like longevity, and we probably won't know for 20, 30 years, but there's a lot of reason to think there might be effect. on the one hand, there's probably going to be some issues with folks in rural areas and in other parts of the country actually accessing the health care system, even once they have insurance coverage, but on the other hand, the expansion of medicaid and the subsidies boost family income effectively, raises their ability to consume and also reduces stress. there's a great study out of oregon that shows one of the best things that medicaid does is it removes a lot of financial strain for families, so that might even have an effect beyond just the health care effect. >> let me tell you, some great reporting here.
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people should go through and look at the pictures, of course, though, and read your words, but i think sometimes when you see it in that snap of time, it really resinates the differences there, but it's a great article, well written, well researched. annie, thank you so much. i appreciate you coming on. >> thank you so much for having me. right now, three secret service agents have been sent home and put on leave. a night of drinking left one of these agents reportedly passed out in the hotel hallway in amsterdam. we are live to get more on what happened there next. plus, brand new video shows the commuter train jumping the tracks at o'hare airport. unbelievable. investigators are trying to figure out why safety mechanisms did not kick in if the driver reportedly dozed off. a lot of questions there. and the other question out there, did nick canon go too far? the tv star has taken on a new character in so-called white face. this is set off a huge debate, what nick canon is saying and
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the story of an african performer, pop star, that's turned her brown skin white. was it all for success? we're going to talk about that after this. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses,
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there is still a way for russia to work with ukraine and the international community to de-escalate the situation through diplomacy. that's the only way the issue will be resolved. if russia continues on its current course, however, the isolation will deepen, sanctions will increase, and there will be growing consequences for the russian economy. >> president obama speaking once again in just the past hour regarding the crisis in ukraine. the president held a news conference after meeting with european union leaders in brussels, belgium. he also is making headlines this morning after another embarrassing episode involving the secret service. three agents who were preparing for the president's arrival in europe earlier this week were sent home after one of them was
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found drunk and passed out in a hotel. nbc news chief white house correspondent chuck todd is traveling with the president. he joins us now from brussels. obviously, chuck, there's a lot to talk about regarding ukraine and the ongoing crisis there, but you and i both know this headline has come out regarding the president's detail and some serious concerns there. first, how does this information get released publicly, what happened there, the back story here? >> well, here's sort of it looks like it became more public than maybe some in the secret service would have liked. it was a hotel security discovered the passed out agent. from there, they contacted the u.s. embassy and from there, "the washington post," this was their original scoop, they had it, but my sources in the secret service were pretty forthcoming about the whole incident, making a case this is the new zero-tolerance policy inside the agency in light of what happened
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in colombia a couple years ago. the white house staff is basically quietly fuming about it. you know, in some ways they are mad at us in the media, but mad at the incident itself because it overshadows what they are trying, the message that they are trying to send, particularly this issue, which is the president trying very hard to rally europe to its side. look, this has made headlines in the netherlands, over here and over there, at a time when the last thing the united states wants to do is leave a bad impression at a time when the president's trying to rally europe. so, you know, the service itself says, hey, this is not colombia, and they acted fast, but yet it's a proof that the culture hasn't fully changed yet. >> seems that way, at least for some individuals, but i also have to ask about the trade deal, a lot of the questions the president was asked -- a lot of the questions the president faced focused on what would be the largest free trade zone.
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what's the latest regarding those talks? >> well, you know, this has been a big priority of the president. politically at home, tamron, you know democrats are actually the ones standing in the way of giving the president a freer hand to negotiate with the europeans on this. the europeans, by the way, they have their own set of political intelligence, they know this. so while the president would like to make some progress and start getting the architecture of this deal between the european yun union and the united states to get done, at the same time, politically, the white house knows it can't be pushing this trade agenda too hard because it will divide the democratic party in an important midterm election. it is complicated. the white house is hoping to convince skeptical europeans to do this deal with the united states, particularly at a time it's clear relationships with russia isn't going to be good. the european economy, intertwined with russia. the united states making a case, hey, you need to intertwine more
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with the united states. >> chuck todd, thank you very much. a lot to cover and wide ranging subjects. coming up, one senate candidate's pretty surprising warning to d.c. politicians. warning to d.c. politicians. >> across america, people are taking charge of
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when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza is not insulin. do not take victoza if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include swelling of face, lips, tongue or throat, fainting or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat, problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) which may be fatal. stop taking victoza and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back,
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with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need... ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza. it's covered by most health plans.
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the only thing that was done was an oxygen mask placed on my face while they were arguing, which continued on to the point. i didn't feel safe at all. it was so unprofessional. i was totally appalled by the entire situation, and i'm just glad that i wasn't actually having a stroke, because i wouldn't be here today able to tell what happened to me, and i feel as if it's a serious public
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safety issue that needs to be addressed, because it's a matter of life and death, and when someone's, you know, responding or they need help in a crisis situation, that's the last thing they need to experience, is that type of arguing and conflict. >> the lack of professionalism, it's true. rose, as i understand it, you eventually went to the v.a. hospital the next morning, and what did you find was wrong? >> well, when i went in, they thought that i also was having a stroke, and then after running some tests, they realized that it was bells palsy, which is an inflammation of the nerves, and it's partial paralysis of one side of the face, so that night i didn't go because of the situation that occurred within the ambulance between respondents, and so my face being paralyzed, one of my eyes
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doesn't close, so i suffered some unnecessary, you know, eye damage, like a scratch on my cornea because i had to wait till the next day to go and before i started taking medication, so it was just not a good thing, and it's, yeah. >> it's unimaginable. i want to let the audience know the fire chief, kenneth ellerby, says that any instance where a patient feels uncomfortable by the presence of our members who are sworn to protect them is unacceptable. we also know that the union president representing the civilian ems provider said the emts on the basic unit in order to gain position asked the firefighter paramedics be retrieved so he could perform certain care, and this is kind of when things escalated from there. there's different -- basically, different back and forth over why there was this verbal altercation, but no one is denying that there was a verbal altercation as you waited to get
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help there. what would you like to see happen now, rose? >> what i would like to see happen now is to have a standard at least operating procedure or protocol that is followed and any type of personal conflict on the job, just there's no place for it. and i would like to see some laws implemented to protect citizens that are in need of emergency response in a time of crisis or trauma to have professionalism, you know. >> that you deserve, that you deserve. i understand that one of the emts apologized, but to your point, this is a greater concern. you were in a serious health situation, as we see there, and we are happy that you were able to get that medical care, and we also thank you for your service, you're an army vet, and we appreciate you joining us today, rose. thank you very much.
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hopefully, a speedy recovery to you, ma'am. >> thank you, and thanks for having me. >> of course. a dramatic rescue caught on cell phone video, that tops our stories around the "news nation" today. one worker was trapped, you see on the top floor balcony, waved for help before hanging down and jumping to the lower balcony, as that fire raged all around him. >> oh, thank jesus. thank you, god. oh, no! my god! >> you can hear those people in the background watching this. the firefighters you see there was able to reach him, moments later, the building gave way. unbelievable. okay, so the cause of that fire still under investigation. moving on to this story, dramatic surveillance video shows monday's train derailment in chicago with the train careening past the end of the
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track, right on to an escalator at o'hare airport. more than 30 people were injured. in a news conference just minuted ago, the lead investigator said the train operator admitted during an interview she dozed off and did not wake up until the train slammed into the station. the investigator said the operator also admitted she dozed off while operating a train in february and missed a station and was admonished for that by her supervisor. up next, nick cannon is defending his decision to wear whiteface to promote a new album that's called "white people party music," but he says there's a difference between humor and hatred, so what are people saying about this? we'll talk live with the founder of youngblackandfabulous.com. lel gets up to 795 highway miles per tank. salesperson #2: actually, we're throwing in a $1,000 fuel reward card. we've never done that. that's why there's never been a better time to buy a passat tdi clean diesel. husband: so it's like two deals in one? avo: during the salesperson #2: first ever exactly. volkswagen tdi
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okay, comedian and host nick cannon is defending his use of white face in a stunt that's drawn a fire storm of
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controversy. in a series of images and videos posted to instagram and other social media accounts, cannon is disguised with red hair and white skin. >> connor hall, that's the name, bro. >> it is certainly getting attention with the images drawn and almost immediate backlash. in a comment posted to his instagram page, one person wrote if a white person did this by switching to african-american as a joke, hell would be raised. another person said, you obviously don't care too much for your fans because you knew both races would just attack each other on your page. so unnecessary. since monday, cannon has been going back and forth with fans on twitter defending the stunt and even posted this image of robert downey jr. in black face for the movie "tropic thunder" with the caption that read in part, there is a big difference between humor and hatred. joining me now, blogger natasha eubanks, founder of the popular
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website young, black & fabulous. >> hi. >> you posted this on your blog. >> correct. >> you said that the comments have continued to come in. what are people saying? >> well, it's kind of split. some people feel, you know, oh, this is backwards racism, or reverse racism. this is something that nick should have maybe thought about before he decided to go forthwith. then there's the other side of people who i probably agree with who say how is this reverse racism? white people never have to deal with the black face show, that type of historical significance that we had to deal with back in the 1800s to the 1900s for 100 years. so it's two different scenarios here. so it's a little split on whether he was being racist or not. >> but how is this, for example -- julianna huff, very well-known singer. she was in black face for a halloween costume as crazy eyes, the character from "orange is
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the new black." in her halloween costume. and people ripped her from top to bottom for it. and she wasn't even actually black. it was more bronzy, but whatever, i digress. what are your readers saying is the difference between what julianna did, in their opinion, and nick cannon? >> some people feel as though there's a huge difference between a comedian/actor, which nick is, and someone who just dances for a living and dressed up for halloween. what was the intent? the intent is the difference here. >> well, julianna would say my intent was just to be funny. she said she was a big fan of the character. >> the issue there is that we know you're not -- you putting on a bronzy black face does not make you any more that character than you dressing up for her as halloween. it was unnecessary. but when an actor/comedian does something, it's part of the art of what they're doing. >> so nick cannon tweeted out, i'm happy we are all having this conversation, it's definitely needed. what do you think he means by
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that it's needed? >> i think that any type of debate when it comes to race, when it comes to what racism really is in this country, it's always a good thing to talk. >> okay, just quickly here. another thing that was on your blog under the same headline with nick cannon, is this african pop star denicia, she's from cameroon, she's created a beauty cream to whiten her skin. she was a brown skinned person, about my complexion before. this is her now. i thought this wasn't real. apparently, though -- >> oh, it's very real. >> it's a big issue. you look at it, you don't think it is real. what are your readers saying about this? >> it reminds you a little bit of lil' kim, right? she markets it as a cream that you put on certain spots of your face as a black person when you get discolorations, you put it there. unfortunately, it seems as though she looks at her entire body as a spot. >> is this a deeper issue? spoke about the prejudice.
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>> they do feel like there's a self-hate issue there. you can mask it as anything you want. oh, i'm just trying to make my skin smoother and prettier. your entire body now looks like a different person. that is self-hate. she actually did speak out about lupita nyong'o and i think she kind of blasted her, and she did not apologize for it. >> it is a hot topic. i'm sure there will be no shortage of tweets coming my way and i will respond to them. we're having a chat after this show. thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, there's a lot going on this morning. here are some things we just thought you should know. campaign ads can be a bit odd, to say the least. here's one from iowa that takes the bacon. it comes from republican joni earnst, an iraq war vet and sitting state senator who says she's more than qualified to cut
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the pork. here it is. >> i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm, so when i get to washington, i'll know how to cut pork. >> mother, soldier, conservative. >> washington's full of big spenders. let's make 'em squeal. >> how scared did that pig look? >> mitt romney has endorsed her. that's the one thing we thought you should know. that does it for this show. i am tamron hall. in just a few minutes, i'll be answering your questions live in a google plus hangout. this is the second one. join the conversation on our website, newsnation.msnbc.com. you'll see me answering the questions so you know it's me, not a stunt double. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." we will carry president obama's centerpiece address of his trip to europe live. that's not much, you think except it's 2 percent every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch! over time it really adds up.
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pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa.
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right now on "andrea mitchell reports", the 911 calls describing the river of mud and debris sweeping through two communities with no warning. today 16 people are confirmed dead, but as volunteers and family members join the desperate search, the death toll is expected to rise. coming up here, the governor joining me with the latest on the recovery operation. president obama calls on europe to ban together, but is it enough to deter vladimir putin? >> if anyone thought they wouldn't care about their actions in ukraine or if they thought they could drive a wedge between the european union and the united states, they clearly miscalculated. and pieces of the puzzle? authorities are calling it the most credible lead yet in the search for missing debris from flight 370. 122 potential objects spotted on