possible developments in the four-week hunt for the missing malaysia jetliner. chinese state media reporting a search ship has detected a pulse signal under water. the big question, of course, is it related to flight 370. this as we're getting new images of possible debris spotted in the search zone. and just moments ago, the australian government weighs in on what it knows. heavy turnout. voters in afghanistan defy taliban violence and head to the polls to choose their next president. richard engel joins me to discuss what's at stake for u.s. interests. and history revisited in memphis. a firsthand look inside the national civil rights museum opening today. hey there, everyone. hi noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex wi witt." missing malaysian airlines flight 370. american officials are checking out reports a chinese ship has

detected a pulse signal in the south indian ocean. chinese-run agency, shenhua, says this morning, the ship detected the signal coming in, which is standard on the plane's black boxes. nbc news has been unable to independently verify this information, so far there is no confirmation the pulse is linked to the missing plane. also claims to show white floating objects spotted by military aircraft in the search area. again, nbc news has not been able to verify these photos. the australian government just released a statement that reads in part, quote, the characteristics are consistent with the black box. however, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft. the search, of course, going now into its fifth week, growing more urgent by the minute. the batteries on the pingers inside the plane's black boxes could die any day. meaning it could take years to find the wreckage. joining me now from perth, australia, nbc's ian williams.

with a good evening to you, what more do we know about these pulses and where this information is coming from? >> reporter: good evening, alex. well, these reports come from chinese state media, which has reporters on board a ship, the high shin juan. the reports by the chinese state news agency were very short, merely saying the ship detected a pulse, which was on the same frequency as the aircraft's black box. it went on to say that it couldn't establish, though, at this time that it was, in fact, the missing aircraft. another report on cctv, state television in china, said that this pulse had been detected on friday, then again on saturday afternoon. now, this has been received with some caution here in australia. the defense minister was quoted earlier this evening as saying that there have been a lot of leads, a lot of things which have turned out to be disappointing. and, of course, some of those

false leads were also from china. in an earlier stage of this search. at the same time, the organization, the australian-led organization, which is overseeing the search, issued its own statement this evening, in which it said that these -- these chinese reports could not be verified at this time. and that they had asked china for more information, which is itself rather interesting, because the assumption was that all information automatically went through that coordinating body. but many questions still to be answered there, alex. >> yeah. ian, may i ask you, again, so the the ping that is reportedly heard today, it is the same type of ping in the same location as heard yesterday? or is there anything different about the two? >> reporter: they say it's in the same location, alex. it's difficult to pin these reports together. what cctv was reporting, their person on board the ship, was

that it was first heard friday, but it was discounted, because there were a number of ships in the area, and they thought it was perhaps another sound from another ship. then, today, they say they heard it for about a minute and a half, and it was at regular one-second intervals, which would seem to be consistent with the ping that came from a black box. and, of course, the frequency would seem to be consistent. but i think there have been so many false leads so far in this search that here in australia, and among those overseeing the search, there is extreme caution until they've had an opportunity to look much more closely at what it is the chinese have seen, alex. >> as well there should be. ian williams, thank you very much, from perth. joining me now, former ntsb investigator, greg feith. how confident are you this could be a major break in the search? >> i'm not confident right now.

it's always one of those, you know, optimistic things, and it sounded good. but the chinese have been down this road, you know, for now the third or fourth time with regard to information that they're providing. the fact that this is the last day, the fact that they're in an area that, you know, has -- is being searched by them, they hear this ping for about a minute, but then, of course, they can't relocate it. you know, there has got to be some cautious optimism here. while i would love to be wrong, again, it's one of those things where they keep releasing information rather than going through the funnel of the australians. >> right. which that is a problem. they're releasing the information. why would they do that? why would they defy the proper procedure? >> i think, alex, one of the things they are worried about is the fact that they have 150-plus chinese nationals on that airplane. and they're trying to, you know -- i don't know what

they're trying to do with the families, other than to at least give some glimmer of hope, or provide some closure or something. but, you know, they should be following protocols, and with the australians now taking over this whole search effort, they and the malaysians should be reigning them in to make sure they don't release this information through their news network, only because they have done this before, they have had to retract the information. and all it does is foster, you know, false -- you know, goodwill. >> yeah. and they talk about the frequency as being consistent with that to which you would find with the black box. but anything else that could be in the area? could it be s.o.n.a.r. from a submarine? other ships? what else could it be? >> well, you have to remember, we don't know exactly how they heard this sound. you need to have special equipment, a hydrophone or s.o.n.a.r. listening device. and it's got to be almost on top of that wreckage. you have to remember, 37.5 kilohertz is a very high

frequency. so it doesn't pulls out very far. that's why over the last month we have all been talking about the fact that you literally have to be almost on top of that pinger, if you will, to hear it. you're not going to hear it 20,000 feet from the pinger. it just doesn't have the ability to radiate the signal like that. so, you know, one of the things that we really have to be cautious with, of course, is other ships in that area. there are other generators of that frequency of sound, or at least in the same band, that could be a false positive. and we have had false positives earlier on this week. >> yeah. speaking of false positives, i'm looking here at the australian government initiative, the media release. and they're saying that these white objects reportedly floating in the same area, they're actually about 90 kilometers away from the presumed detection area. does that surprise you, that these two could be related, with that kind of distance, if it turns out that both of these entities had something to do

with the plane? >> absolutely, alex. one of the things that -- we're a month into it. we know how violent the ocean is in that particular area. and even though this new search area isn't as volatile as further south where we were a couple, three weeks ago, the fact is that i would really, really be cautious with finding any kind of debris anywhere near this signal, especially after a month. because the ocean is moving and it's moving at a pretty good clip in that particular part of the world. i wouldn't expect to see any kind of floatsom debris in the general rised area of where they're finding this ping. >> greg feith, thanks for your insights, as always. we appreciate them. another big story we're watching across afghanistan. people were given a voice. the first democratic power shift in the history of the nation that has seen so much war, as the 12-year presidency of that mid karzai comes to an end.

one of the biggest challenges has been a shortage of ballot papers. there have been scattered security incidents, however. there were bombings at a number of polling stations and afghan officials say dozens of taliban militants were killed in police operations throughout the country. joining me from kabul, richard engel. richard, i understand the polls officially closed a few hours ago. do you get a sense of success there on the ground? >> reporter: well, everything is relative. the afghan government certainly thinks that this was a huge success, and afghan officials just held a press conference from the minister of interior and intelligence agencies, and they were saying what an enormous accomplishment this was, and congratulating the afghan people. but everything is relative. this was a very violent day, almost anywhere else in the world this would have been considered a fiasco, a blood bath, even. there were 146 different security incidents. this was released in that same press conference.

nine police killed, seven army killed. four civilians killed. 89 militants killed, including 3 suicide bombers, who were shot as they tried to enter polling stations. one of them managed to detonate the device, but did cause massive casualties. the reason they are calling this a success is despite all of this violence, about 7 million votes were cast, according to the afghan government. that would be roughly 45%. a surprisingly high turnout, considering what a violent day it actually was. it also has to be compared to the last election here. so if there are about 150 just shy of 150 security incidents today, in 2009, the last presidential election, there were more than 600. and this time, it was only the afghans who were providing security. so, yes, a success. the afghan government calls it a big success. but still, quite violent day. >> yeah.

richard, with regard to the problems, though, other than security concerns at the ballots, i understand there were a lack of numbers of ballots available in places. and yet there were some 15 million that were printed? >> reporter: logistics are very difficult in this country, and organization is also a problem. there were reports coming from the afghan government they ran out of ballots at certain stations here in kabul. i think that was more an indication from the government to say, look how high voter turnout is. look how many people are coming. we don't even have enough ballots for them. there were about 1,000 polling stations that never opened at all. there were just over 7,000 that were supposed to open nationwide. about 6,000 did open. 1,000 didn't, roughly because of security concerns. >> i also understand they used, what, 3,000 donkeys to get ballots out to rural areas,

which i guess begs the question, how long will it take to count all these ballots, to get them transported back with these logistical concerns you talk about? >> reporter: there are tremendous logistical problems. they're not waiting to count them until they come back. they're going to be counted in sich u. but then they have to be brought back. and if they were brought on donkeys, they're going to come back on donkeys for a verification process. the ballots were put in transparent, tamper-proof bags. they were counted on the site. many monitors on location to observe that the ballots were actually counted. and then they're going to be verified once they come back to kabul. officials say it could take two weeks but different campaigns will start announcing their findings based on their monitors quite soon, perhaps even tomorrow. >> okay. nbc's richard engel in kabul. thank you very much, richard.

joining me is dean of johns hopkins school, and former special adviser, president obama's special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. good to see you again. how hopeful are you from what you have seen and heard so far today? >> i think so far the news is good. namely that the elections have been carried out, that people have shown up. that there is going to be a result that hopefully will be accepted by everybody. but there are some questions about turnout. it's important to see which parts of the country did not vote. does that impact the choice of the president and whether that creates certain legitimacy issues afterwards. >> yeah. how about the three leading candidates? we have abdullah abdullah and two others. did well in elections last time and pulled out knowing that hamid karzai was going to win. the future of afghanistan, what does it look like based on the motivations and experience of these men? >> well, i think they all bring a great deal of strength to the job. however, abdullah abdullah is

stronger in the north, weaker in the south. stronger among the tajics. the other two have greater support in the south. if the elections turn out in a way because of security reasons fewer people voted in the south and that favored the election of abdullah abdullah, that will make it difficult for him to govern. regardless, i think all three will have difficulty dealing with the united states, with the security pack with the united states. >> but haven't all three said they would sign that security pact with the united states? >> well, they may say that. but they may find it's difficult to do so. and even if they did sign it, for a new president that has come in to take such a bold step on such an explosive issue, there might be a political cost to pay, that may then impact their governance of afghanistan. >> how about the perspective on where afghanistan stands today as compared to how it was back in 2001?

>> i think the insurgency is still there. it hasn't finished. i think the political problems, the corruption issues, the economic issues are there. the good news is that the country now has a security force that is promising. and also now it has a class of people, young and women and middle class that are engaged in the economy that are using cell phones, that are on the internet and they're hopeful about the future. this didn't exist in the 2009 elections. now it's a big force. there is news that there are a lot of young people who have decided to voluntarily serve as election monitors, using their cell phones and communicating with one another, filling in for the international observers who left afghanistan ahead of the elections for security fears. >> all right. dean of johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. thank you. >> thank you. let's go to front page politics now. secretary of state john kerry says the obama administration is reassessing its role in the effort to broker peace between israel and the palestinians.

during his visit to morocco friday, secretary kerry hinted, saying both sides have taken steps that are not helpful. >> this is not an open-ended effort, never has been. and the president said that from the beginning. and i have said that many times. including in the last few days. so it's reality check time. and we intend to evaluate precisely what the mechanics steps will be. >> defense secretary chuck hagel has arrived in japan, the first leg of his asia pacific tour, which also includes stops in china and mongolia. new clues about what happened at ft. hood just minutes before a soldier went on a shooting rampage. to good nut, my daughter's an expert. hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones

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today military investigators

are looking into an argument that may have set off this week's shooting spree at ft. hood. investigators say ivan lopez opened fire wednesday, killing three soldiers and wounding 16 before turning the gun on himself. joining me now is david wood, senior military correspondent at the "huffington post." thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> what do we know about the specifics of the argument and who investigators are talking with? >> well, apparently, there was an altercation over paperwork in which specialist lopez got very, very angry. we don't know exactly what the argument was about. and we will probably never know what caused him to go from a situation which a lot of us have been in, which is arguing over paperwork, something annoying. but most of us don't become mass murderers. and we don't know, still exactly what triggered it. but alex, there is something really interesting i wanted to talk about that i turned up in reporting. a new study out this week, part of a massive study inside the

army of soldiers' mental health issues. and what they're looking at specifically is what are the mental health conditions that people bring into the army when they enlist? very, very important, but often overlooked part of this whole story. what they found is that about one out of five soldiers who enlist in the army have some kind of existing mental health issue. adhd, for example. anxiety, depression. those kinds of things. fairly common ailments. but what was really disturbing is they found that 8% of new recruits in the army come in with something called intermittent explosive disorder. which was something i had never heard of, but it's road rage. it's a condition that causes people to explode in anger and violence and aggression way out of proportion to the situation. so that's -- so this army study said about 8% of its new

recruits come in with that condition. so the army recruits about 70,000 people, 8% is roughly 5% -- 5,000 new soldiers coming in with that condition. >> wow. >> now, we don't know if that's tied to specialist lopez, but it's a very, very disturbing finding. >> >> quite sobering. when you think about what's happened at ft. hood, david, the second time you have seen a fatal shooting like this. one at the hands of a psychiatrist, major nidal hasan, 13 people killed in that one. ft. hood is a huge base. i mean, it's as large as if not larger than many cities. the odds of something like this happening again, and how to prevent it from happening. that's really got to be the crux of the issue going forward. >> well, alex, you're right. that's the key. and another thing i looked at this week is how many mental health professionals does the army have, and does it have enough? because we keep hearing stories about soldiers who were not getting help. so the army has about 5,000

mental health professionals on staff right now. given the size of the army, that's about 1 for every 100 soldiers. i think the army, after a late start and spurred on by the rising suicide rate, has begun to provide the kind of care that soldiers need. clearly, though, not enough. >> yeah. all right. sobering discussion, david wood, from the "huffington post." thank you so much. >> you're welcome. next up, we take you inside the civil rights movement as the muse museum dedicated to that struggle reopens today. scott: seems there's a wee bit of confusion out there when it comes to grass seed. "what if i forget to water it, scott? will it still grow?" roll the clip, jimmy. scotts wraps each seed in a brilliant coating that feeds, protects, and holds in moisture. so growing thicker, healthier grass is easier - even if you miss a day of watering. now let's spread your newfound knowledge! get scotts turf builder grass seed with water smart plus. it's guaranteed. seed your lawn. seed it!

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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, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. after almost two years and a $28 million renovation, the national civil rights museum is back open in memphis. the doors open to the public, called the breaking of the chains, just a short time ago. it comes 50 years after the signing of the civil rights act, and a day after the 46th

anniversary of martin luther king's assassination. joining me here in studio, todd johnson, correspondent for the grio.com. let's talk about it. you've been there recently. what's it like, that museum? >> reporter: alex, really remarkable. you can tell the amount of money that they raised, that they were just going to completely go all-in and try to change the dynamics of how people understand civil rights history. i mean, it was quite the undertaking for them to raise the $28 million and completely change the technological infrastructure. but they made the decision that they wanted to make civil rights history more relevant and more real to a younger generation. the lorraine motel in memphis holds a historic place in world history. dr. martin luther king jr.'s life ended here on this balcony back on april 4th, 1968. in 1991, the motel became the national civil rights museum. now it's being transformed. >> this museum, after 22 years, needed to be updated. needed to have more technology.

needed to be engaging to a younger generation. >> reporter: nearly $30 million was raised to give the civil rights history displayed here a face-lift. design teams and architects gave exhibits a state-of-the-art and vibrant feel. >> it's automated. it's high touch, multi-user. you'll be a part of history before you leave. you'll feel it. >> reporter: dozens of scholars and researcherses focused on giving visitors a complete history. not just king and rosa parks. but the everyday people involved, and the lesser-known named, such as ella baker and russ tin. >> they're the many faces of the civil rights movement and we need to make sure that deeper story is being told. >> reporter: museum leadership tells me the new exhibits and all of the renovations was a move they just had to make in order to keep the national civil rights museum relevant for years to come. new exhibits focus on the transatlantic slave trade as a foundation of the struggle for freedom and what would become

america. other interactive exhibits shine light on the issues presented in brown versus board of education, and towards the end of the tour, visitors get an extensive look at the black power black pride era. >> you know, museums like everybody else, businesses, have to understand the consumers, the visitors. where are they? what do they want? people no longer want to walk through museums and experience a book on a wall. >> reporter: museum leadership says it was important to give their visitors an opportunity to engage, touch, watch and listen to the sounds and sights of one of the most pivotal movements in our nation's history. with other museums across the country dedicating more and more resources to african american history, officials say the national civil rights museum has positioned itself among the top. >> we have made history relevant. and we're speaking to it in ways that anybody that comes through will be able to understand and relate to. >> reporter: the museum reopens to the public on saturday, april 5th. >> earlier this morning, there was a freedom forward parade in

memphis, to celebrate the museum's grand reopening, and the officials that i talked to, they said, look, people might come down to memphis to see the lorraine motel and the balcony where mlk was assassinated but the new exhibits and the new renovations they hope will keep them there and coming back. and alex, i assure you it will. >> i cannot waiting to inside there. it looks inspiring. and especially that one where they recreate the galley of a slave ship from 500 years ago. and you can go and sit in that cramped space of what that would have been like. one more person squeezing in, right? >> reporter: exactly. you can kind of in the very back that that b row clip, that video clip we showed. and all the way, and you can't really hear in the piece, but there are sounds. you hear a ship going through waters and you hear whips and chains and you hear audio of folks seemingly kind of, you know, commanding the ship and commanding the slaves that are in the galley. so it's not only the visual, it's also the audio, as well. and you can really feel it. >> yeah.

sounds like a powerful experience. okay, thank you so much, todd johnson from the grio. good to see you. >> good to see you, alex. thank you. we want to remind you the civil rights summit will be next week in austin terks, a commemoration of the civil rights act 50 years ago and examination of the ongoing struggle for equality. we will have special coverage starting tuesday right here on msnbc. and now to today's number ones. with a new gallup poll on trusting government. the nationwide survey asking people how much they trust their state governments to get things done. and as it turns out, people in north dakota are the most trusting. 77% there saying they trust their state government a great deal or a fair amount. 76% say likewise in wyoming. 75% in utah. the least trusting? by far it's illinois, with 28%. rhode island and maine tying for second with 40. 46% are trusting in pennsylvania. mardi gras may be the biggest party in new orleans every year, but the big easy is doing a lot of studying, as

well. new orleans is tied with san antonio atop forbes brain power rankings. both cities saw a 20% increase in the number of college graduates. those are your number ones on "weekends with alex witt." not just a start up. an upstart. gotta get going. gotta be good. good? good. growth is the goal. how do we do that? i talked to ups. they'll help us out. new technology. smart advice. we focus on the business and they take care of the logistics. ups? good going. we get good. that's great. great. great. great. great. great. great. great. great. (all) great! i love logistics. how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more.

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come out of american garages. introducing the lighter, faster cadillac cts. 2014 motor trend car of the year. ain't garages great? welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." and breaking news. a possible break in the search for missing malaysian airlines flight mh-370. chinese state-run media reporting a chinese ship has detected what could be pings from the plane's black boxes. australian authorities say they cannot confirm this report. they are now asking china for more information. let's go now to nbc's katie it at your, who is standing by in kuala lumpur. katie, what's the word from there? >> reporter: really has been now or never out here in kuala lumpur. chinese say they have detected pings out in the indian ocean during their search. pings that are consistent with the pings of a black box. they're of the same radio frequency. now, this is big news, because

this weekend was really the big weekend. we're hitting a month on monday, and a month is how long the batteries on those beacons on the black boxes are expected to last. really, now or never, this weekend. now, authority, the jacc, head of the jacc, angus houston, says they can't yet confirmed these are related, these pings are related to mh-370. they're optimistic, but he has to send more assets to confirm or debunk this. malaysian officials are saying the same thing, that they have heard about it, but they are being cautious, because they have been duped, if you will, in the past by sightings from satellites and other sightings that haven't turned out to be anything. families out here are optimistic that this is really going to be it. but they also are being very cautious. they have had a lot of false hope, a lot of false leads. and they don't want to get overexcited to find some conclusion to this before they find out the truth of the matter. so they're just waiting. they're seeing a lot of them already -- the chinese families, at least, have flown back to

beijing, and they're going to wait on some more information. it's just past midnight here. it's about 12:40 in the morning out here in kuala lumpur. so we're not supposed to hear anything more on this. and what it could be for at least 12 hours. into tomorrow, into the daylight time. so far, though, it is promising, and hopeful that this is mh-370. but people are being cautious at the moment. alex? >> understandably so. katy tur, thank you so much for that. let's bring in allen diehl, former investigator who helped solve complex air crashes during his time with the air force, the ntsb, and as well as the faa. the author of "air safety investigators:using science to save lives" joining us by skype. your first thoughts when you hear the news, this reported pulse signal reported by the chinese. >> like everybody, i'm cautiously optimistic. we have been on this emotional roller coaster before. we definitely need confirmation, and i think we should have that within several hours. >> okay. shouldn't there be two pinger sounds though, allen?

one for each of the black boxes? >> exactly. that's assuming that both of them are still operational. as we have said many times, we're roughly at the beginning of the end of the battery life. they do last a little longer than 30 days, but at reduced power. so maybe one of them is an older battery, and it's already -- >> and speaking of that sound, so here we are in day 29, going. and we know that the batteries will be winding down. but in order to detect a sound, you have to be literally right on top of this black box, right? and if the depths of the ocean where it is, is it realistic to assume that this would be coming from a black box sitting at the bottom of the ocean? >> yeah, i obviously haven't looked at the top graphical map, but i understand it's around 10,000 feet. i heard somebody else say that. if that's true, that's just about the extreme range. they're guaranteed for two miles. and that's pretty close to it.

so -- >> 29 days in, allen? won't the battery be dying down? >> well, i talked to the man that actually tests the batteries for the factory. and here's what he told me. they're guaranteed for 30 days. when they test them new at the factory, they last for about 33 to 35. and then they start fading and finally die out at about five days later. so that's 38 days. so that's -- but again, we don't know what conditions they're in. and we also know that thermal layers and other sea conditions can affect detectability, alex. >> allen, i understand you're also an aviation psychologist. can you describe the human factor surrounding what's going on right now? this slow drip of any information that may provide clues and the fact that thus far nothing has proved to be factually helpful. >> well, i'm sure for the families, like i said, this has got to be an emotional roller coaster, and i'm sure they're trying to control their emotions. i sure would be. but i think -- i think they're

going to be following this every minute. i am convinced -- [ no audio ] >> okay. looks like we lost allen there on skype. but at least we got the majority of our conversation in, and i thank him for that. the march on washington, 1963, march for both freedom and jobs. why has income inequality remained so difficult to overcome? i turn to author tom perdham for answers, next. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. when my son was born, i remember, you know, picking him up and holding him against me.

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in today's office politics, "vanity fair's" todd purdum, author of the book "whose time has come" profiled some of the most interesting leaders of our time and he'll share some of his favorites. first, i asked about this country's growing economic divide.

>> the fundamental gaps in income, economic opportunity, that we always forget, but the march on washington was for jobs and freedom. and the end of his life, dr. king was principally focused on economic justice. and so i think that's been much tougher nut to crack in the way that income inequality has grown in our country. would be very shocking to some of the people from the 1960s, i think, when the gap was not as striking as it is now. >> and sure covered some interesting stories and figures in your travels for "vanity fair" what sticks out to you as perhaps most interesting. >> i've been very lucky. a wonderful time flying with dick cheney, going up to alaska to write about sarah palin. covering bill clinton's post presidential years. spending a lot of time in 2010 on the road with john mccain, when he still would let reporters be close to him. when i'm here in new york, i think how lucky i've been to have a lot of wonderful politicians starting with ed koch and mario cuomo, senator

pat moynihan. i would be hard-pressed to pick one. it was a rollicking time covering bill clinton in the white house. >> the word rolling i canning, i spent time with dick cheney in california. he was historytercally funny. he told dirty jokes. i couldn't believe it, he's a very funny person. he's an incredibly likeable person. and in contrast to his public image of this kind of dark, lord voldemort or whatever, he has a sunny personalty. he's basically a very soft-spoken, funny, witty, wry person who believes the world is a gloomy place. and i think he thinks war is the perpetual state of mankind. but in his person, there is nothing angry or dark about him. he's a very agreeable -- he would be a wonderful person to have dinner with or go fishing with. >> you talk about fishing. let's talk about sarah palin in alaska. what was that like? look, she has such a following,

love her or hate her, she has a following. >> i wasn't able to get an interview with her. just before she announced she was stepping down as governor. the world of alaska is so different from the lower 48. and john mcphee, the great writer, once said the only thing that would make you realize you're in the united states is u.s. mailboxes and the dollar bill. otherwise you could really be in a foreign country. so going up there and seeing the world that produced her really did help me understand her world view and how she had come to have the belief she did. i think it's sort of sad in a way that she didn't -- she had a lot of potential and for whatever reason, she didn't choose to do her homework and work hard enough to transform herself into someone who could really be a player on the national stage. she is now kind of an entertainment figure and i guess that's what she wants to be. >> yeah. and with regard to what you wrote about president clinton, 2008, i believe, the comeback. controversially received, including by the president. is there anything that you ever write that you wish you could take back? anything pertinent to that story or others? >> it's an interesting thing. it was very controversial, the

president was very upset about it. but what's always troubled me a little bit, the story was conceived on the assumption mrs. clinton would be -- since it raised a lot of questions about his behavior, financial associations with his foundation, and some of the questions about judgment and personal conduct, it was seen as kicking the clintons when they were down. and that made me feel bad. that's not what it was intended to do. it was intended to hold them to account when they were riding high. i think as time has gone on, we saw that when senator clinton became secretary of state, president clinton, in fact, did change some things about the way he reported the donors to his foundation, the way he conducted the business affairs. and i think those were all things that my article had suggested he would probably have to do if she had upwon the whit house. in that way, i feel fine about it and wouldn't take anything back. but i was certainly sorry he took such umbrage. >> the point should be made you have reconciled. >> i have very civil relations with him, i saw him a couple

years ago. i'm not sure i would be on his countri christmas card list, but i would shake his hand and i'm sure he would shake mine. >> tomorrow todd looks back at 1964 and what he calls a poignant moment in u.s. history and shares how he helped create perhaps a memorable storyline in the hit tv show "the west wing." a strong warning about climate change. what makes this report different from the rest. [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire.

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secretary of state john kerry says the u.s. is reevaluating its role in the middle east peace process. citing a lack of progress between israeli and palestinian leaders. >> there are limits to the amount of time and effort that the united states can spend, if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward. so we intend to evaluate. they say they want to continue. both party say they want to continue. neither party has said that they called it off.

but we're not going to sit there indefinitely. >> so let me bring in white house reporter from "washington post" david nakamura and from the "chicago sun times" lynn sweet. i'll begin with you, david. secretary kerry says it's time for a reality check here. what do his comments mean for the obama administration's role in trying to broker a peace deal. >> well, alex, he left room open for things to keep moving forward. i think this is a big setback, and i think the administration is starting to it lose patience with both sides, blaming the palestinians, you know, for some of their actions and going to the u.n. and looking to make some case against israel and some of their actions. and i think they're concerned on the palestinian side, that the israelis are not releasing a number of prisoners as were concerned on -- at least from the palestinian point of view, keeping talks going forward. i think for the administration, they have sunk energy and capital, political capital into

this since last summer. for the secretary, it's really a big effort on his behalf, probably primary efforts as he has taken office over a year ago. and so this is a difficult moment for him. and even though he's left open this possibility of continuing the talks, there's a lot of reporting out today that suggests both sides never really had the heart into it. and really just kind of doing this to kind of, you know, sort of manage the crisis and try to work with the u.s. but it doesn't look very promising. >> yeah. in fact, "boston globe" lynn, pointing out today the secretary is spend nine months in this personal diplomacy, laying his own legacy on the line here. how do you read his comments? does it sound to you like he's getting ready to throw in the towel? because he's doing the reality check that unless israelis and palestinians are coming to the table to actually work together, how much can the u.s. do? >> well, this has alluded many administrations, alex. i do think that kerry left the door open. but it isn't a priority anymore.

it is a setback, but it's a setback that every administration for decades has hit. but what was interesting this week, is that the administration put on the table a potentially release for jonathan pollard, the israeli spy, who has been in jail almost 30 years up for parole next year, as a way of inducing israelis to perhaps release the palestinian prisoners. so that was a little bit of a new element. bottom line is, it has been an impossible situation that even the personal diplomacy of john kerry couldn't move forward. >> okay. let's go now to new jersey, because we are getting reporting from abc news, according to them, new jersey governor chris christie's press secretary has given testimony to a federal grand jury, investigating the bridge gate scandal. a lawyer has told abc news his client is not a target of the investigation. last week, as you know, the governor held a press conference touting a report that cleared him, a report commissioned by

the governor's office. he went to las vegas, met with gop super donor sheldon aid ellis ellison. so how difficult is this, especially with this word that a member of his inner circle has testified to a grand jury? >> absolutely. and these grand juries are supposed to be private proceedings. there's no guarantee that they'll bring an indictment eventually. but, you know, from what this suggests, this could go on and on. and the fact is, this testimony was leaked this quickly into a grand jury proceeding, suggests these kind of new revelations could start to leak out over the next 18 months. which is the extent of a grand jury, potential extent of it. and so that's why that's a big problem for the governor in that he is trying to move forward. i think there was a poll out last week that suggests a lot of folks in new jersey and elsewhere in new jersey don't really buy the governor's own report that he didn't know about it, that only two people were involved in making this decision. so this could be a distraction going down the road to 2015 as

he tries to lay the ground work for a national campaign. >> yeah. previously the reports, lynn, that there was a grand jury meeting. but again, first time we're hearing of a grand jury calling witnesses to testify. so where do you see all this going? >> well, this is a dangerous period for governor christie, because what prosecutors try to do is to flip witnesses on each other, in order to, you know, grant some people immunity, to get their testimony. and it's just a very perilous time, because if you're -- usually prosecutors look for the biggest fish possible. and by bringing in all the players, if there is something to be had, this is a technique that is -- puts a lot of tough pressure on a lot of people. >> okay. david nakamura, lynn sweet, good to see you both. thanks so much. >> thanks, alex. a new report of a pulse signal detected in the search for that missing malaysian airliner. but officials cannot confirm it. we're going to have a live update, next. when it comes to g, my daughter's an expert. hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing.

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raised hope or false leads. chinese searchers think they have heard something from the

depths of the indian ocean, and there are new photos that could yield clues. after four gut-wrenching weeks, the search for the malaysian jetliner is entering a crucial period. it's a race against time that could lead to sudden discovery or lastinging disappointment. live reports and analysis, next. the risk and the reward. millions in afghanistan put their lives on the line at the ballot box. but what does today's vote mean for the future of u.s. troops in that country? it's a shrine to the struggle. a reopening today that honors civil rights heroes with the hope of inspiring others to follow. and it's a call to action with the very survival of our planet at stake. but why is this global warming report so alarming? . good day to all of you, welcome to "weekends with alex witt". 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west. we begin with breaking news on the search for malaysian airlines flight mh-370. what could be a major break. a month after it disappeared.

chinese-run news agency xinhua reports a chinese ship heard a pulse signal for flight data and cockpit reporters. xinhua is also reporting a chinese plane spotted at least four white objects in the search area this morning. officials say they are not able to independently verify either of the claims. the australian government for its part says the characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box. however, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft. joining me now from kuala lumpur, nbc's katy tur. tell me a bit more about where this information comes from and what the different governments are saying about it. >> reporter: well, this all sounds very promising. the chinese say they heard the pings from what they believe could be a black box from their search in the indian ocean. and those pings sounded, they had the same frequency as the black box beacon, the pings they would give out. they only heard one set of

pings, though. there should be two, because there are usually two or there are two black boxes on jetliners. but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. the batteries on one of them could have run out or the debris could be in a different area. it's been a month since they have been searching, a month on monday, and the batteries on those black boxes, the beacons, are only expected to last a month. so it is conceivable that one of the batteries may have run out a little bit sooner. so far, though, everybody is being just very cautious about this. the jacc, the head of the jacc, angus houston, in australia, says it is consistent with the pings of a black box, but so far there is no confirmation that it is definitely a part of mh-370. he's going to send more assets out there as we speak to try and confirm or debunk that. the malaysians are saying the same thing. they do not want to confirm something until they know for sure. so they say they are being cautious, because in so many other days, they have had spottings or radars or satellite images showing something that could have been debris or

something in relation to the jet plane that's been missing. but it hasn't turned out to be anything. so the families say the same thing, as well. they're going to wait and see to find out exactly what is going on here. a lot of the families -- the china knees families have flown back to beijing. they haven't heard anything so far. they don't want to be led to believe something is out there unless it definitely is. so everybody being cautious, everyone trying to wait and see. it's 1:00 a.m. out here. we're going to at least have to wait a few more hours before it gets to be daylight for them to confirm anything. >> thank you very much for the live report despite the late hour. katy tur, thank you. back with me, former ntsb investigator, greg feith. i pick up on the conversation where we left off last hour. what other things could make this same frequency sound that would logically be in the area? >> well, alex, one of the things that has been talked about, especially right now, is the fact that there are so many ships in that area. there's a submarine in the area.

there's other things that are going on. plus, in fact, a lot of times oceanographers will have equipment in the area that also uses pingers for identification. so there is a multiple of different types of vehicles and things that could cause a ping across that frequency of 37.5 kill can kilohertz. so, again, we don't know exactly how the chinese picked this up, what kind of hydrophone, where it was trailing behind their ship, how deep it was. those are the things that need to be answered. and then, of course, they have to identify with at least the gps coordinate, exactly where it was. they should have been hovering, you know, right over the top of that ping area and staying in pretty close proximity. so all of these are still questions that we don't have answers to. >> okay. let's go, though, with a hypothetical. what happens if these pulses turn out to be one of the black boxes? what is the next step? >>el the next step then is, of

course, to get the actual assets that have the side scan s.o.n.a.r. and these deep sub messables that can actually then confirm. they have cameras on them. they can use the side scan s.o.n.a.r. to actually map the bottom of the ocean so we can see really where the debris field is. and then once that takes place, then determine the best course of action to try and find where the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder may be. the one thing about this is that those pingers are mounted on the head of each of those boxes. that is, they're only held on by brackets. and in the past experience that i've had working with those types of boxes, the cases have broken, the pingers have come off. value jet was a perfect example, where we had the actual box, but we didn't have the pingers. so again, we don't know if we do find the pinger where we're going to actually find the cockpit voice recorder and/or the flight data recorder. >> and let's say this wreckage is sitting in more than 10,000 feet of water.

you're looking at two miles to the bottom of the ocean, at least, in some areas there. when -- at what point do you decide what to do with that? you bring up certainly the black box, if you can find it. get the information you could, at least to say what happened to this plane. is there an assessment as to whether or not that plane is to be brought up itself? or would there be an option of just leaving it there? >> well, you bring up a very good point. if it was just an accident, like with air france 447, they left the wreckage on the ocean floor, because they had sufficient information to determine the cause and contributing factors to that event. this is a crime. or at least that's what it's been declared by the malaysians, that this is a criminal act, a criminal investigation. that then brings into other factors as to how much of a wreckage needs to be recovered. you get the cockpit voice recorder, you get the flight data recorder. you're going to know, basically,

from the fdr if it was working and in a condition to be read out. you're going to know what the airplane did, but you're not going to know why. if the cockpit voice recorder is intact, it may be silent, because it only has the last two hours. if the crew, the pilot, whoever was in command of this airplane did something nefarious and the cockpit voice recorder is silent, then you might have to get really the wreckage to try and put a storyline together. >> clearly a long way to go in the investigation. greg feith, thank you very much. we'll be seeing you again. >> absolutely. getting out the vote. a reported 7 million afghans turned out today for the presidential election that could bring the first democratic transfer of pouf we are in that nation's history. men and women alike defied threats from the taliban and nearly 150 attacks at polling stations to cast their ballots and dip their fingers in that distinctive purple ink. joining me, richard engel. hello, richard. what were the demographics like

at the polling stations you visited? did you see representatives of all ages? did you semen and women? >> reporter: we saw men and women. voter turnout was fairly steady stream. we didn't see huge crowds, but people were showing up to vote. of the situation was quite common. it was organized. we saw international observers from the eu taking notes. we were able to film the process. at least here in kabul, there was an air of security. the streets were more or less empty. it was a national holiday today. there were check points, it seemed like, on every corner. if it these figures are to be believed, it is an amazingly high turnout. about 45%. considering there were 150 or nearly 150 different security incidents with polling stations in more remote parts of the country attacked by mortars, attacked by small arms fire. there were at least two suicide bombers that managed to blow up

their vests. they were shot and killed at the gates of polling stations by afghan security forces. other suicide bombers, three of them, were arrested by afghan security forces wearing their vest. this wasn't a very violent day. 16 afghan security forces killed, four civilians killed. but it's all relative. you have to compare to what happened during the last presidential election here when there were more than 600 different violent incidents. so 150 compared to 600, things are improving. and what's also significant is that american forces weren't out providing security. it was the afghan security forces. american troops were on their bases. >> yeah. very important you make there. all right. we'll wait for the results of that election. thank you so much, nbc's richard engel in kabul. hope appears to be fading in the middle east peace negotiations. secretary of state john kerry signaled the u.s. is losing patience over a lack of

progress. >> this is not an open-ended effort, never has been. the president said that from the beginning. and i've said that many times. including in the last few days. so it's reality check time. and we intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be. >> nbc's kristen welker is at the white house for us. kristen, what's the word from the obama administration on secretary kerry's comments? >> reporter: well, alex, the white house not ready to throw in the towel yet. they won't say that these talks are dead. having said that, the fact that secretary kerry is using language like "reality check time" certainly signals a new low in these negotiations. just a little bit of background about how we got here. palestinian leader mahmud abbas earlier this week announced his intention to gain membership to 15 international agencies without consulting with secretary kerry. that's a violation of these

talks. abbas saying that he made that move because israelis reneged on their promise to release more palestinian prisoners. in the wake of all of that, secretary kerry cancelled a planned meeting with abbas. and this all came after it appeared as though the talks were moving in the right direction. it appeared as though there was going to be progress. but white house deputy press secretary josh earnest, on friday said the president is not giving up hope yet. take a listen. >> so the president is very clear-eyed in his assessment about where things stand. and about the prospects of reaching the kind of agreement that would be so clearly in the interest of the world. but those difficult challenges in no way diminish the president's passion for trying to reach an outcome here that is so clearly in everybody's interest. >> reporter: now, a source familiar with these negotiations says a top u.s. negotiator will

likely meet with israelis and palestinians on sunday. but the white house really making the point that this is now in the hands of israelis and palestinians to move beyond what appears to be a stalemate. alex? >> okay, from the white house, nbc's kristen welker. thank you, kristen. a new poll is out today that could be a preview of the mid terms in november. so which party is getting the edge? and first crimea, then what? a former u.s. top diplomat says the u.s. better keep its eye on russia's broader ambitions. he joins us next. did you get my e-mail? [ man ] i did.

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i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app. to politics. new today, president obama blasting the house republican budget in his weekly address. >> the republican budget begins by handing out massive tax cuts

to households making more than $1 million a year. then, to keep from blowing a hole in the deficit, they would have to raise taxes on middle class families with kids. next, their budget forces deep cuts to investments that help our economy create jobs, like education and scientific research. >> republicans for their part focused their weekly message on job creation delivered by south carolina senator tim scott. >> instead of having 35 separate federal work force training programs with extensive overhead and administrative costs, let's simplify them into one flexible work force investment fund. instead of throwing billions of dollars each year at these programs with no measurable end results, let's get states and localities the flexibility they need to develop targeted plans. >> a new associated press gfk poll out today shows more americans want republicans in control of congress, though just by a very slight margin. 1 percentage point. that is a very he reversal from

january. the polling stations are closed in afghanistan. it could take months before the new president is confirmed. but the consensus on the ground today it was largely successful with the election commission chief announcing that the preliminary turnout was 58% of the eligible 12 million voters. joining me now, ambassador christopher hill, served as u.s. ambassador to iraq and previously assistant secretary for state for east asian and pacific affairs. he is now the dean of the university of denver school of international studies. and we welcome you, mr. ambassadorment . i know you have seen firsthand the difficulty of having free and fair elections in a country very much still at work. was today a success, from what you have seen? >> from all accounts, it seems to have been a big success. first of all, the turnout was almost double the previous election. secondly, i mean, there was a remarkable lack of violence through the actual polling. so i give the afghans a lot of credit. apparently it was their military

who was out there doing security. ours played a kind of much quieter behind the scene role. so i think it was really a success so far. >> yeah. those doing security from the afghan military and police bringing about 350,000 out there on the polling places. all of the three leading candidates say that if elected, they will sign the bilateral security agreement. is there still a chance, though, in your mind, sir, the u.s. will withdraw completely at the end of this year? >> well, i recall in the case of iraq, we heard a lot of very positive sounds from the candidates. and then after the election for some reason not all the campaign promises got fulfilled. so i think we have to wait and see. i think there's definitely a possibility that we're out lock, stock and barrel. on the other, i think it's very encouraging they have all put that in their platform. that they will sign the deal. it's already pretty clear what it would be. it would be some 10, 12,000

troops of whom two-thirds to three quarters would be americans. they would be very much in a training role rather than a -- out there patrolling type role. so i think those of us who believe it's necessary or it's helpful to have a residual force, i think we're feeling a little optimistic, especially as a result of this election date. >> i also want to ask you, sir, about ukraine, because i understand you spent most of your career in eastern europe. in fact, you spoke at princeton thursday, and you talked about inefficiency of sanctions. you were joking that you tried to put sanctions on milosevic by denying him a visa to disneyland and somehow that would change the future of kosovo. what did your experience teach you about dealing with crises like this? >> well, first of all, they're very tough. and what you try to do is kind of establish the relationships ahead of time. those people who believe that somehow our president, president obama, was, you know, not tough enough with these people, i would argue it's not that he's

been too friendly with these people. the problem is, he hasn't had the kind of relationships with people like putin that he probably needs to. so these are very tough issues. and the problem with sanctions, as i suggested in princeton, is simply, you know, when people are -- when people face sanctions, their immediate reaction is not to give in to them. and i suspect mr. putin, who certainly is a bit of an irascible character, is not interested in reacting to sanctions by saying, okay, i'll now pull out of crimea. so sanctions have a limit. and especially when the name of the game with respect to russia is somehow to bring it more into the family of nations. make it play by the rules. it's been the endeavor for the last 23 years. and is so now we are forced, and i think forced is the right word. i don't see an alternative to, you know, lay out a tough set of sanctions. and i think with a result of what we want to see see, a russia closer to us, is going to

be -- is not going to be served by that. >> but you also talk about the need for, despite what's happening right now, that we need to focus less on ukraine, and more on the broader ambitions of russia. so what do you think those ambitions are? >> well, i think we -- you know, this is not just about crimea. crimea is a symbol of what putin has in mind for russia. he seems to -- if not recreating the soviet union, certainly recreating some eastern power base. so i think it's very necessary that we need to hold the ukrainian closely. on one hand, certainly you have -- you want to have some kind of, you know, tough love policy to them. on the other hand, we better get busy with these loan guarantees and other things. that's an economy that needs a lot of help. secondly, i think we do need to keep the door open with russians. and i would suggest we do that with international things we have going with them. for example, the russians are

part of the six-party process on north korea. the russians are part of the syria process. so i think we do need to kind of work with the russians on these international issues. and i think it's also important that we have a kind of grander strategy, if you will, where we're working with china and other countries. we need russia to understand that they are going to be diplomatically limited by what they have done in ukraine. and by the way, i don't think crimea is going to really help russia. i think it gives them a kind of surge of adrenaline. many russian nationalists are very happy with this today. but the underlying problems in russia are economic, their failure to move beyond oil and gas production. so they have a lot of problems coming down the road. and crimea is not going to solve them for them. >> all right. ambassador christopher hill, thank you for your time. >> thank you. it's a weather forecast that could send shivers across the globe. but why is this new climate change report so frightful?

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more now on a ground breaking report released this week about how climate change is sweeping all the continents and oceans of this planet. the united nations report says unless the world makes significant changes soon, we will see more extreme weather that puts the basic systems that support human civilization at risk. >> people who live in cities, people who live along the coast, in fact, anybody who eats, is under threat from climate change. >> joining me now, carl davenport, climate energy reporter with the "new york times." with a welcome to you, basically anybody who eats is at threat here. let's talk about the language in this report. it was unequivocal. >> the language was unequivocal, alex. and one of the most grim and compelling elements of this new report was the focus on food supply. it made clear that climate change and increased drought are already threatening levels of

food supply. it's becoming more difficult to grow food in several parts of the world. and it made clear that in the future there will be larger areas of the world that won't be able to grow food. this will be a very politically destabilizing force. in some parts of the world, it could lead to violent conflict. in other parts of the world it may just lead to spikes in food costs. but this is a very real, concrete impact of climate change starting now. >> yeah, and this report has been called different, corral, from the others, because this one has a subtext that climate change is happening and now we have to adapt to a warming planet. do you agree with that assessment? >> that is one of the really interesting elements of this report, alex. you know, for several years, we have been seeing these grim, frightening reports that warn us of what's to come due to climate change. this is the first major report from this group, this group of several hundred nobel winning

scientists, the ipcc, that says climate change is not something that's coming in the future. the impacts are measurably here and now. due to climate change, we can already measure rising sea levels, increased drought, increased heatwave. ocean asidification, which is killing off coral reef populations and fish populations. again, that's sort of a basic underlying element of the earth's ecosystem. this report made clear, this is not in the future. this has already started happening now. the report also made clear the worst is yet to come. >> okay. earlier this year, coral, you wrote about a growing view among business leaders in the u.s. coca-cola in particular who see global warming as a force that hurts their bottom line. do you think this will convince more business leaders this is a legitimate problem that needs action? >> there are a lot of business leaders that -- corporations that look at climate change as -- you know, this is a real

shift within the business community. i think for many years, when this was kind of a problem that was coming in the future, corporations said, you know, we're not interested in climate policies that, you know, could place regulations on us, could raise our energy costs. which made sense. now, though, there is a shift in the business community as corporations -- again, coca cola is a good one, saying these changes are actually hurting our bottom line more than the policies will hurt our bottom line. so, you know, coca cola has plants all over the world, one of the main ingredients they need to make their product is water. they are experiencing water losses, water shortages in india, coca-cola lost one of their operating licenses due to water shortages there. companies like levis, a company that -- its main -- its main ingredient for what it makes is cotton. it's finding that increased drought is causing disruptions

to the supply chain of cotton. nike, another company, it has manufacturing facilities in thailand and elsewhere, in asia, in areas that have been threatened by increased storms, sea level surges. these are companies that are saying, hey, this is disrupting our supply chain. it's disrupting our ability to, you know, do long-term planning. this is a problem, you know. these are not companies that are driven by ideology. they're driven by the bottom line, and they're saying, well, these changes are affecting our bottom line right now. and so that's really interesting, because a lot of these companies are political contributors. you know, they have a lot of weight in the policy conversations. so this may be something that helps move the needle in the policy conversation about climate change. >> from the "new york times" carl davenport, good to talk with you and get a reality check. >> great to be here. thank you. a showcase of this country's fight for civil rights.

we take you inside this historic american treasure. and new reports from the indian ocean and the search for the missing malaysian plane. but is it a hopeful sign? if you wear a denture, touch it with your tongue. if your denture moves, it can irritate your gums. try fixodent plus gum care. it helps stop denture movement and prevents gum irritation. fixodent. and forget it. (agent) i understand. (dad) we've never sold a house before. (agent) i'll walk you guys through every step. (dad) so if we sell, do you think we can swing it? (agent) i have the numbers right here and based on the comps that i've found, the timing is perfect. ...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." 34 past the hour. we continue to follow breaking news in the search for missing malaysian airlines flight mh-370. australian officials say they are asking for more information from the chinese after its state-run news agency reported that a search ship detected a pulse signal under water. chinese state tv also reporting on several white objects spotted almost 60 miles away. let's bring in john cox, msnbc aviation analyst. john was captain with us airways for 25 years and also an accident investigator. so with a welcome back to the broadcast, john, what are your thoughts on the reports of these pulse signals? >> alex, i think it's the next step that we have been looking for. first and foremost, the floating debris. we haven't found it yet. this could be a break in that

direction. if the pulse that the chinese picked up and they only held it for a minute and a half, but if that pulse is there, it means we can get other assets in the area and they can begin to slim down or narrow down the area that we need to look at. this could be a break. >> okay. john, explain to me why they would only pick up a minute to a minute and a half of a signal. what is it, the ship is moving, and wouldn't you think they would turn it around as quickly as possible to get to that same area? >> we don't know what happened. the only thing that i've heard so far, and this was from a reporter that was on the ship. is that they got the signal, realized what it was, they held it for about a minute and a half and were not able to pick it back up. saltwater -- sea water is quite variable. it varies, and all those things can affect the ability of the ship to hear things. so if they got it and it was

this regular 37.5 kilohertz cycle clicking, it's very distinct. and if, in fact, they got that, then there will be other assets that will be able to locate it quickly. one of the nuclear submarines from the united kingdom is there. they have extraordinary listening and hydro phonic capability. >> okay. you say this is a distinct sound. john, is it an exclusive sound to these black boxes? is there anything else out there under water that could be making a similar sound? >> it's designed to be unique. first and foremost, it's very regular. it clicks. about once a second. nothing else really does that. and the specific frequency is set to not be something that an ocean mammal or any ocean-going sounds could be. so it is unique. >> okay. and the next steps here are what? >> first and foremost, to get the assets there to get other listening devices nearby. also, to see what the floating debris that was sighted nearby.

what it is. if we can tie those two together, then we could possibly have something from the airplane. >> okay. we're going to watch and see what happens next with your help. john cox, many thanks. >> may pleasure, alex. memphis is unveiling an american treasure as the national civil rights museum reopens after a construction project. a weekend celebration under way right now, 50 years after the signing of the civil rights act and one day after the 46th anniversary of martin luther king jr.'s assassination. the festivities kicked off this morning with the parade you're saying right there. msnbc jermaine lee is joining me from the hotel. talk about the changes, with a welcome to you, the journey this museum has taken with all of its reconstruction. >> reporter: thank you. ever since 1991 when the museum first launched, it set a precedent and now after 18 months and 27 -- nearing on $20 million, it's completely been renovated. i took another walk through the museum a half hour ago, and it's

gut-wrenching and really tugs at you in a visceral way. and clearly it's set a new standard for civil rights museums that are cropping up all around us. and now behind us in a few minutes, museum officials are set to break the chains and open the doors to the museum for the first time. so that, you know, guests and people in the community can take a look for themselves and see what's going on. >> yeah, and jermaine, you've written this museum goes beyond the modern civil rights era. how does it do that? >> reporter: certainly. the original manifestation, the first iteration of the museum, it kind of centered around the most recent civil rights era. but now it takes a look at five centuries of resistance to the transatlantic slave trade, reconstruction, the tragedies and victories and setbacks of the jim crow and civil rights era. and so by connecting folks back to the broadest civil rights and the broadest sense, they hope to connect the whole new generation of americans to what really is at the heart of this american story. >> i know the amumuseum held a special ceremony to mark 46

years cincinatti martin luther king was killed. can you describe the ceremony? >> reporter: yesterday was kind of a mix of a very solemn moment. but also one of honor. a jazz musician that was a member of the alpha fi alpha fraternity played amazing grace on the saxophone. folks with their families, some with small children, sat and reflected just yards away from where dr. king was assassinated on the second floor balcony there behind me. it was a really remarkable moment for what really is a remarkable institution. >> i know that the curators have taken great pains to keep this museum, keep the lorraine motel part of it as authentic as possible. talk about the extent to which they worked to get that done correctly. >> reporter: oh, yeah. they worked with dozens of scholars to get down every single detail. when you make your way and you wind through the belly of the museum, you land on that second floor. and the room -- there's a room, room 306, where dr. king spent

his last moments on earth. it's encased in glass. you see a half eaten lunch, a milk carton, a cup of coffee, a cigarette tray with ash -- like an ashtray. an old tv set. it's amazing they spared no expense, $27 million, in nailing down very specific details. and as you mentioned, 46 years ago, this place looks pretty much the same from the outside. but in the inside, you know, major change. >> and jermaine, you've been there, you've taken a walk through. how long should someone who is going to that museum plan to spend there? you can't just go 30 minutes walking through. to take it all in, how long should you spend there? >> reporter: i really would advise anyone to take your time, make an afternoon of it. because of the advances in technology, you can hear the voices of civil rights leaders, interactive maps, a number of different audio/visual exhibits. and just take time and look at the photographs alone. some are familiar, but some we haven't seen in years. all the way through the freedom

writers and what they have gone through. the modern civil rights era. there is a replica of the bus that rosa parks sat on. even though we have seen that dozens of times, it's still amazing. and i can't understate, i can't overstate the visceral feeling you get, winding your way from the slave trade to the modern civil rights era. it's truly an amazing experience. and i don't mean to replay a commercial for the museum. but it truly is an amazing experience. >> you know, i'm getting a sense of that talking to you. so i'm glad you brought that to the broadcast. thank you very much, msnbc's jermaine lee. we remind you the civil rights summit will be next week in austin, texas, a commemoration of the signing of the civil rights act 50 years ago and the ongoing struggle for equality. we will bring special coverage starting tuesday, right here on msnbc. a tech industry ceo resigns amid outcry over his stand on same-sex marriage. why is one leading gay advocate coming to his defense? the big three weighs in.

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it's time for the big three and today's topics, money talks, freedom of speech, and best week/worst week. let's bring in my big three panel. goldie taylor, whose column, breaking black, is featured every monday. morris reid, and republican strategist joe watkins. hi, guys. it's becoming kind of a common grouping here. so i guess it works. let's get first to money talks here. and the supreme court's decision this week allowing wealthy donors to contribute to as many political candidates and campaigns as they want. so goldie, what are the practical effects of this and how do you think the high court's decision positions both parties ahead of the midterms? >> you know, it seems that this supreme court is following along the line that money is speech. i don't happen to believe that. but it is settled law and so i think this is a natural erosion happening from that. what we're going to see next is that the individual campaign donation to individual campaigns, that that cap will also be removed. because we think money is speech, then you cannot limit it in any way.

and what i think we ought to do is talk more about transparency. more about reporting. i think what a move from that sort of quarterly reporting system to an immediate reporting, within 72 hours of receiving funds from any individual, pac or political organization, you ought to post that online for everyone to see. and so i think transparency is the answer. as for this fall, i don't think it helps or hinders either party. i think democrats can raise money, i think republicans can raise money. their job is to get out there and use the law to the best of their ability and to raise those small donor dollars. the small donors really make the difference, whether we believe it or not. those people work and vote. if i give $25, i'm getting on the phone. >> there is this study i want to go over by the sun light foundation, if which it shows that almost two-thirds of the top 1,000 donors primarily support republicans. that suggests that the gop is the party that will likely benefit from this ruling. so morris, with these financial floodgates now open, how do the democrats effectively compete? >> well, the president obama

showed us in his first campaign it's not about money. ideals win elections. and this is something that republicans and democrats really need to get back to the basics. if you look at local elections, a lot of local elections like people like webb, brown, who started out with very little money but ideas ultimately propelled him to the front of the line. i think at the end of the day, it is not about money and politics. it is really about crafting a great message that resonates with people. if you have a good message, money will follow you. and i believe that is ultimately what we need to focus on, having great candidates with great ideas and great legislation to keep them going. >> well, here's, interestingly, joe, how the "new york times" editorial board reacted. the mccutcheon decision is less about free speech than about the loudest voice in politics. you think that's a fair assessment? >> well, i'm not sure that it is. i have high regard for the editorial staff at the "new york times" but at the end of the day, i think morris is right and

goldie is right too, that both parties will benefit. those able to raise money and both parties will benefit from this ruling. and morris is right. great candidates matter and are incredibly important to the process. you want to have great kaenlts. but the capacity to raise money matters also. and president obama showed that. he was a very successful fund-raiser. both in the 2008 cycle and in the 2012 cycle, but doing precisely what goldie said, which is having lots and lots and actually millions of small donors. so raising money is incredibly important in these campaigns. this next presidential cycle as well as the midterm cycle will demonstrate just how important money is. >> can i ask you all, though, something i asked representative carol shea porter earlier this morning. do you get a sense that when big donors donate a ton of money and their candidates get elected they see the results of that donation? they personally feel that? goldie, morris, joe, any of you want to take a stab at that? goldie is shaking her head. you go. >> i don't think i'm going to give $1 million, $2 millions, to

a campaign committee or pac or individual candidate, like sheldon aid ellison with newt gingrich and put that money behind him. i don't think i'm going to do that if i don't have immediate access. so i think some of these donors do receive a great deal of influence with the candidates they help to elect. and while that's unfortunate, i think all of us ought to have equal access to our elected officials. >> i'm a ron brown democrat, and he was really the most successful guy raising money on a democratic side. the fact is, democrats need to have a stronger message to draw business to the table. you can't be pro worker and pro business and you can also again have a great candidate with little money with great messaging and propel themselves to the white house. so it really doesn't matter about money. it's really about the message. >> okay. joe, real quick to you. >> well, at the end of the day, i think that money does matter. quite a bit. if you want to win elections. and i think that those donors who give large amounts of money certainly have the air of the candidates to whom they give

money. >> freedom of speech right now. gold goldie, chief executive of mozilla resigning this week, a couple weeks after taking the job, blasting donating $1,000 in 2008 to support california's prop 8 measure. he said he couldn't lead because of the controversy. do you think he should have resigned, goldie? >> i'm not certain he should have resigned. on the one hand, i did not support prop 8 and its passage. i do believe that when you take your bigotry outside your house and decide you're going to implement it in your business and hire based on this ill-thought belief, i think that's wrong. there's no evidence that this ceo did that. in fact, he said plainly that he checked those feelings at the door and he had to govern his organization very differently. on the other hand, i also believe when you put money into the public square like that, you can always expect advocacy

groups to disagree with you and they decide to vote with their feet. >> joe, your thoughts on this. should he have resigned? >> i think he thought he was doing what was in the best interest of his country. i think going forward, he felt it was best to resign. ceos are finding out that what they think unmatters. >> what do you think, morris? should he be resigning because of his feelings? >> absolutely not. the board shouldn't have accepted his resignation. people are allowed to have personal opinions. if he was doing a great job leading the company, the board should have stuck with him. a birthday, a new job and a search for park, all part of the big 3's best and worst next. ...and a choice. take 4 advil in a day which is 2 aleve... ...for all day relief.

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it is time now for the best and worst of the week. goldie, your picks?

>> my loser happens to be the dupont heir, richard roberts, and his judge, in this case, judge jan jurden who released him on probation rather than jailing him for the rape of his 3-year-old daughter. we didn't know about the case until a recent divorce case. but that kind of judicial activism, there's no room for it. my winner of the week is my granddaughter, taylor marie. happy birthday. >> i can't believe you have a granddaughter. >> too young, goldie! >> i concur. >> morris, how about you? best and worst. >> my best goes to the city of paris who elected the first woman. my loser is money and politics. you remember the rich guys that ran with a lot of money, ideas went in politics, not money.

>> very good. joe, how about yours, best and worst? >> my winner for the week would be the story that says that the 192,000 jobs were created last month. that's a good-news story for a lot of americans. long-term unemployment is still too high. but we got 192,000 jobs created last month. my bad news story, worst of the week would be the fact that the unemployment rate for african-americans went up. we have to work on that. get more people back to work of color. >> we absolutely do. guys, thank you so much. see you soon. that is a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." i'll look forward to seeing you back here tomorrow at noon eastern. up next, craig melvin if he even shows up -- >> wow, am i late? >> no, i'm early. >> you are early. this is unprecedented. >> i know. i'm d-a-v-e and i have copd. i'm k-a-t-e and i have copd,

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you're watching msnbc. a new but as yet unconfirmed report today. has the world wondering whether we have finally found that missing malaysia airlines plane. the latest from the region ahead. we do have credible information he was involved in a verbal altercation with soldiers from his unit. >> but many questions still remain about what drove army specialist ivan lopez to open fire on fort hood. meanwhile, in charleston, south carolina, many college students and alumni are annoyed by who's been picked to run the college of charleston. what he's done and said about the confederacy to spark these protests. and a special museum reopens on the grounds of one of the most tragic events in american history. we'll take you there live. plus -- >> please welcome the great sam moore. ♪ >> and the soul man himself, sam moore, will join us to talk about music in