disturbing the pantry. ortho crime files. a house, under siege. say helto home defense max. kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®. this. the right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the voting rights act became law nearly five decades ago. >> and he places the blame for that squarely at the feet of the gop. good afternoon. i'm milissa rehberger in for craig melvin. you're watching msnbc. president obama is talking in some of the harshest terms yet. how his comments are being sefed, ahead. >> if you want to be consistent, if you want to grow the movement, we can not be the party of fat cats, rich people,

and wall street. >> today some of the gop's up and comers are in the granite state trying to cement their support for potential 2016 bids. a new account of the that deadly bus crash in california from someone involved in the accident. they say the big rig was on fire before it hit the bus. what's wrong with the dollar? >> there's nothing wrong with the dollar. >> a digital virtual currency is gathering interest in many circles, but does it make sense? and the olympic runner accused of killing his girlfriend takes the stand. will his testimony keep him out of yal? right now, at least half a dozen republican presidential hopefuls are converging on new hampshire. the marquee event is today's freedom summit. speakers include senator rand paul, former speaker newt going rich, and the man you see here, texas senator ted cruz. he worked the crowd earlier today and is scheduled to take the stage this afternoon. told voters their constitutional rights were under attack. >> we have an administration and

a president with a rampant pattern of lawlessness. >> nbc kacie hunt joins us live from manchester. what have we seen so far in. >> reporter: well, as you laid out, we heard from senator rand paul. later in the day, we're going to hear from former arkansas governor mike huckabee. so this summit is organized by americans for prosperity, which is that coch-funded group doing so much across the map this cycle. they're pouring money into senate races in an attempt to turn it to the republican side. so most of the people that i've talked to here are as focused on 2014 as they are on 2016. i actually talked to ted cruz earlier today at that event that he held with voters. he was focused on 2014. now, he said he wasn't quite ready to go so far as to endorse scott brown in his bid to win the senate seat here in new hampshire, but that's an overall part of the plan to get 51

republican senators. >> one of the people not at the event is governor chris christie. he came up in your interview with senator cruz. let's listen to that. >> i think bridgegate, so to speak, is much ado about nothing. i think with all due respect, i think our friends in the media like to focus a lot on some traffic in new jersey. i like chris christie. >> what's the biggest headline here? the politicians who are there or the ones who are sitting it out? >> reporter: the ones who are sitting it out are certainly very noteworthy. christie is one of them. the other is jeb bush. he was mentioned earlier, actually, by donald trump, who also spoke at this summit. many in the crowd booed. there was a very negative reaction. so there's a very clear split here between the conservative activists here in new hampshire and what might be considered the more moderate, sort of republican strains here. you have to remember in the

presidential electorate, it's going to tend towards the more moderate. so someone like chris christie, like jeb bush might have a better shot than it would seem listening to the speakers on this stage. >> kacie hunt, thank you. now to the latest on the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. time is running out as officials search to find the black box. the batteries are only meant to last 30 days, and we're past that. searchers have not detected any new sounds today. officials are still optimistic that what has been found is related to flight 370. >> while we do have a high degree of confidence that the transmissions that we've been picking up are from flight mh-370's black box recorder, no one should underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us. >> chris is with a company

called duquesne sea com. it's believed they're the manufacturers of the pingers attached to the flight record else on flight 370. he joins us now. you heard prime minister abbott. how can officials be so confident these sounds they're detecting are, in fact, from that pligflight? >> well, what they're looking for is actually the cadence of the pingers. they have a unique signature. they emit a pulse every one second. it's designed to not sound like anything that's replicated in nature. so that's what they're focusing on. and we've actually heard the initial recordings of them, and the pings are consistent with what the beacons will do once they're immersed in water. >> i understand you brought an example of your product. can you show us how the sounds would be emitted? >> well, what we have here is similar to what would be on the aircraft now. you have a five-inch cylindrical tube. on one side you have a

water-activated switch. once this gets wet or immersed in water, it will start to radiate or emit a pulse every second. so it's a very simple, sleek design, but it's designed that way so that it works and works every time. this is the 30-day pinger. we also have a similar one that's a 90-day pinger that after the air france crash they required all pingers to last for 90 days. so we actually have a 90-day one. this won't go into effect until 2015, beginning of the year. it will be required on all the black boxes. >> we understand that the one on this flight is a 30-day pinger. what's the chance the batteries might still have life in them? how much longer could they possibly last, or do you think they're dead already? >> well, in our testing, we've achieved pings up for about 40 days. our average is about 35 days. they're designed and certified

to 30 days. so probably at 35 to 40 is where they will start to degrade to the point that the pulse or the ping won't be audible by the pi pinger rays. >> so what's the next step in trying to find the plane? >> well, they've got to narrow it down using all the hits that they have, and then visual confirmation. so once they're confident they're not going to receive anymore pings and believe the batteries are depleted, go down there and visually inspect the best area where they got the highest signal or highest possible hit and go down with one of the remote subs and visually inspect it. >> if these pings are related to the wreckage of the plane, it's believed that it could be nearly three miles beneath the ocean's surface. how well can sound from a pinger travel from all the way down there? >> well, the pingers are rated for 20,000 feet.

so we're dealing within its operation range. it's about 2.5 miles down. the pings can be heard for two nautical miles. so you will have to go below the water significantly to hear them, but they're designed to travel through the water. it's an ultrasonic frequency. so it's designed for this purpose. >> okay. chris, thank you very much. >> thank you. now to the latest on another investigation. the one into that deadly bus crash in california. right now ten people are confirmed killed and new today, witnesses say the fedex truck involved in the collision was on fire before it crossed the median and slammed into the bus packed with students and counselors. >> it was in flames as it came through the median. >> it was already in flames? >> it was already in flames, yeah. it wasn't coming from the front, the engine. it was more from behind the cab. so i'm not sure where the flames were coming from. >> highway patrol officials are

looking into those accounts. nbc's stephanie stanton joins me now from chico, california. how is this playing into the investigation? >> reporter: good afternoon to you, milissa. the ntsb is in the very early stages of this investigation. they tell us that the final determination of the cause could take months. but this is definitely a key piece of information that they're going to be looking at. was this truck on fire before it crossed the grassy median and slammed into the bus? that's going to be very important as this investigation goes forward. ntsb investigators are painstakingly combing through every bit of evidence. they're going to reconstruct the crash scene. again, try to determine why this happened. some of the other things that they'll be looking at, speed, how fast was the truck driving? was it driving above the speed limit? they'll also be looking at mechanics. was there some kind of mechanical failure that maybe caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle? then they're also going to be looking at possible human error on the part of the driver.

some of the other things they're looking at, safety. they want to know how well the passengers in the bus were able to actually escape. how long did it take them to escape that bus? was it difficult for them to get out? you know, many of them had to break windows in order to escape the fiery inferno. >> are we learning anymore about the victims today? >> reporter: we are. it is taking a while to identify all of the victims because, keep in mind, some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. but right now we have learned identities of at least five of those victims. let me tell you about some of them. late last night we learned that identical twin marissa serado was confirmed dead through dental records. two adult chaperons, 29-year-old michael mivet and his fiance. they had just gotten engaged in paris recently. an admissions counselor with humboldt state in the southern california area. he was taken to uc davis medical

center where he died, suffering burns over 95% of his body. also, el monte hul in the los angeles area, they lost one of their senior football players. his name, adrian castro. we're going to continue to learn the identities of some of the other five victims and of course that will take some time here as we go on. >> okay. nbc's stephanie stanton, thank you. president obama is raising the stakes, urging democrats to protect their rights as they get out the vote for this year's midterm elections. th president addressed reverend al sharpton's national action network on friday. mr. obama criticized republican lawmakers for putting up roadblocks to voter registration. let's listen to that. >> the stark, simple truth is this. the right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the voting rights act became law nearly five decades ago. across the country republicans have led efforts to pass laws

making it harder, not easier, for people to vote. >> nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. kristen, what has the reaction been to the president's strong remarks? >> reporter: well, the president, of course, got a good reaction on friday. he was speaking to his base, milissa. the idea is to rally them, to get them to head to the polls in large numbers in november so the democrats can hold on to the senate. and of course, voting rights is a key issue. for democrats, the president using incredibly strong language, accusing republicans of rigging elections in an attempt to win elections. over the past 15 months, nine states have enacted stiffer voting laws, things like requiring better forms of i.d., shortening voting hours on the weekend, early votining hour. republicans say this is -- these types of measures will cut down on voter fraud. president obama essentially suggested there is no truth to that. so this debate continues. it's very heated. one new proposal that is being

put forth by civil rights leader andrew young has the support of former president bill clinton, is to put picture identification on social security cards. we asked the white house about that idea on friday. they said they haven't had a chance to review the idea yet, but some of those advocates say that president obama should pass an executive order to do that. president obama hasn't weighed in on that issue. he didn't put forth any new proposals yesterday, but he did say that he stands squarely bhand the efforts of attorney general eric holder who is trying to combat some of those stiffer voting laws. >> well, before his trip to new york, the president said good-bye to health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. will her resignation take some of the heat off the president over obamacare, or is it having the opposite effect? >> reporter: well, in the short term, i think it's having the opposite effect. it's reviving the issue of

kathleen se biel yus' tenure. democrats hope it will sort of tamp down some of the criticism, some here within the administration saying they want the new head of hhs to not be battered and bruised. so that she and of course the nominee is silvia matthews burwell, can roll things through in a more stable way that doesn't cause political fireworks. of course, you have the confirmation hearing. that is certain to be contentious. she's someone who has a strong reputation here in d.c. reputation for being a good manager. she's the director of the omb. by the way, she sailed through her confirmation hearings last year, got unanimous approval from the senate. it's going to be different this time around, though, because we are dealing with health care. having said that, political analysts still believe she's going to get enough votes to get confirmation.

and the white house hoping that will happen by the end of may. >> nbc's kristen welker at the white house. thank you. >> thanks. armed men in the street, bar kids are being built, and tensions are rising in eastern ukraine. it is a developing situation right now. more on that ahead. plus, a new generation of civil rights activists are making waves across the south. will their effort lead to a shift in politics south of the mason-dixon line? first, behind the brutal knife attack in a pennsylvania high school. what's being done right now around the country to help prevent the next tragedy. this is msnbc. (dad) well, we've been thinking about it and we're just not sure. (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. (dad) that's good to know. (mom) i'm so excited.

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let's take a look at some of today's political headlines. president obama continuing on his push for equal pay touted the importance of fair pay for women, calling it an embarrassment that women on

average make less than men. >> it's an economic issue that affects all of us. women make up about half of our work force and more and more they're our family's main breadwinners. so it's good for everyone when women are paid fairly. >> republicans today also tried to get on the right side of the issue with the highest ranking republican woman in the house issuing this response. >> i have always supported equal pay for equal work. and if a woman is being paid less than a man because of gender discrimination, that is both wrong and against the law. >> and congressman paul ryan was in iowa last night pushing a message of unity to a republican crowd. he even called on his party to give up fighting for lent. >> let's try to give up the end fighting. let's give up the tunnel vision. let's give up the acrimony. the left loves to say that our party is in this big civil war, that we're tearing each other apart. i don't see it that way.

there are new details today in the aftermath of the stabbing rampage at a pennsylvania school. school officials say franklin regional high school in murrysville will remain closed on monday. students will return later that week. three wounded students were released from hospital last night. one of the teens still hospitalized remains in critical condition. police right now are digging for a motive. 21 students and a security guard were stabbed in wednesday's attack. a 16-year-old student at the school has been arrested and is being charged as an adult. the questions now being asked nationwide are why and how could this attack have been prevented? joining us is a school psychologist. what can schools do to help identify some troubled students? >> well, there's been a lot of training and in-service done over the years with early warning signs, documents that have been put together by the national government to really trickle down at our school level

to really inform our staff as to warning signs and indicators they can recognize early on and get these children into intervention. >> florida, where you live, has a long-standing law called the baker act, which allows for involuntary examination of individuals who may have a mental illness and may pose a threat to others. in your experience, has that helped reduce violence? >> the baker act is only to be used in extreme circumstances where there is imminent risk of harm to self or others. in certainly specified circumstances, it can be a great protective quality that we institute with great discretion. however, it's not the total answer. we need to certainly use a great deal of emphasis on prevention programming as we do in our division of student services to build protective skills and factors that can weigh down a lot of the vulnerabilities that our children face in schools and communities. >> is there a chance that could essentially backfire? that trying to identify a troubled student earlier could

go too far? >> well, we need to use our discretion. we're not out to really pigeon hole students into categories. what we are after is trying to recognize early signs of troubling behavior. for example, in our country, about 20% of school-age children have an identifiable mental illness during a given school year. by recognizing these children early on, we can certainly increase their ability to succeed in the classroom and in life as well as their behaviors to be more socially appropriate. and that's the aim of these types of programs. we really need to get the information out and work with our counseling professionals and our schools and communities to establish mental health services that are affordable, available, and adequate to meet the needs. >> what kind of role, if any, does bullying play in all of this? >> well, bullying has certainly been found to be quite pervasive. it has been for decades. it certainly is not new but has got an will the of attention

after the columbine shootings. we at miami-dade county public schools have very stringent policies and procedures put together where we needs to recognize kids who are at risk because of being certainly intimidated or dealt physical harm through bullied individuals. there are circumstances when this indeed can result in further harm down the road if we don't intervene appropriately. >> in your position, i mean, this is such a mystery. this really came out of the blue, this particular attack. you know, in other ones there have been warning signs. what do you do in a situation like this where it really seems to come out of nowhere? >> well, often as you research these events as the united states secret service and department of education have, you come up with a real emphasis on there is no set profile of individuals that perpetrate targeted violence on school campuses. 1% to 2% of all of our school-age homicides in this country happen in schools.

the other happen in homes. this is a societal issue, not just a school issue. >> okay. thank you for being here with us. >> you're most welcome. an update now to a story we brought you last week. female members of the congressional black caucus are calling on defense secretary chuck hagel to reconsider updating grooming rules for troops. you'll remember the army caused a stir because some said those guidelines were racially and culturally biased against african-american women. the pentagon has not responded to the letter, but a petition on the white house website has more than 16,000 signatures. you're watching msnbc. oach phas, everything looking good. ♪ velocity 1,200 feet per second. [ man #2 ] you're looking great to us, eagle. ♪ 2,000 feet. ♪ still looking very good. 1,400 feet. [ male announcer ] a funny thing happens when you shoot for the moon. ahh, that's affirmative. [ male announcer ] you get there.

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have family members who were touched by the disease like wes sheerer, who lost his sister jacqueline two years ago. he is doing the ride for the first time in her memory. >> it's tough for someone to understand what you go through when you lose a child or you lose a sister. you know, these people will be able to relate to what i'm going through. i haven't really talked about it much, so i think it will be a good chance for me to open up and share my story. >> along the trip, riders will stop at six different cancer centers on their way down to florida to sped their message of support and hope. learn more about the cause on their website. up next, what one long-time late night host has to say about the new host of "the late show." and late every, olympian oscar pistorius tries to hold it together on the stand. hear what he's been saying. first, the shifting face of southern politics. is it the start of a big change of who votes and how they vote in the south? this is msnbc, the place for

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an armed attack is underway at a police station in ukraine according to reports from reuters. armed men took over two other police headquarter buildings in eastern ukraine this morning. the militants replaced the ukrainian flag on one of the buildings with a russian flag. the mayor of one town says the men who seized the police station were demanding a referendum on autonomy and possible annexation by russia. there are reports of pro-russian separatists setting up check points in eastern ukraine. we'll have a live report on the tensions in our next hour. i'm milissa rehberger in for craig melvin. here's a look at other top stories making news. congressional investigators release hundreds of e-mails and reports related to a gm recall of defective ignition switches. some documents support claims that a company engineer lied in a court deposition that he was not aware of a design change made to those switches. meanwhile, thousands greeted

prince william and wife kate as they opened new zealand's national cycling center today. the couple was given a tour of the facility by new zealand's prime minister and an olympic gold medalist. but they left with a gift for their son george, his very first bicycle. comedian conan o'brien said stephen colbert is the right choice to take over for david letterman. conan said he was never a conte contender. o'brien briefly succeeded him in 1993. it has been 50 years since president johnson signed the civil rights act of 1964. president obama and other leaders celebrated the occasion this week with a three-day civil rights summit in austin. in his speech at the lbj presidential library, mr. obama reminded americans that no rights, not even those written in that historic law, are ever fully secure. >> we are here today because we know we cannot be complacent. for history travels not only

forwards, history can travel backwards. >> that speech is part of what's called the solid south. for decades, the region has been a republican stronghold, prop propelling the gop to congress and the white house. but groups are ramping up their political activism with what's called moral mondays. it's getting the attention of both parties heading into the midterm and 2016 presidential election. let me bring in my panel. melissa, let's start with you. these moral monday protests, they began in south carolina. it's moving on. there's one in georgia. there were a number of arrests there in a protest over changes being made to medicaid. some people are comparing this to the march on selma. what do you think? do you agree with that? >> so the north carolina protests that are moral monday,

we've been covering them a really, really long time on our show. in part because we found it to be such an interesting strategy. part of what it was, was to actually encourage being arrested. because the protesters go into the state capitol and then with the recognition they were going to be arrested. in that way, it's very much like the demonstrations that we saw during the civil rights movement because the goal is, in fact, to be arrested. you didn't hope not to be. you hoped to be arrested because you were making a statement that, in fact, the way those laws are being implemented was unfair and unjust. in that strategy, it is very much like it. i think it is quite different in that this is a kind of broad agenda that includes reproductive rights, voting rights, issues around medicaid expansion and poverty, education funding, and with selma, it was very directly about a specific issue, and that was the voting rights issue. >> do you see this spreading nationwide? >> i don't see it spreading nationwide but certainly regionally. we've seen it move into georgia. it's moved into missouri.

and like the civil rights movement where you would get these innovative new strategies -- for example, in greensboro with the sit-ins. people would pick those up and use them in their own communities. >> former president bill clinton was in south carolina this week. he spoke to students. let's listen to a little bit of what he had to say. >> if we'd had a meeting like this 40 years ago, we couldn't have filled this auditorium. and it wouldn't have been necessary. we'd just have a smaller meeting with people in town that had money. most of them would look like me. old, gray-haired white guys in suits. this crowd is younger. it has more women. it has more diversity than it would have had. that's a good thing. >> kate, demographics of eligible voters are changing. but demographics of those elected in the south seem to be staying the same. why is that? >> well, one of the things

you've seen in the south is you've seen a big influx of northern retirees coming in that aren't exactly social conservative but a physical conservative. some moderates have been attracted to the party. that's certainly upped our numbers in the southeastern corridor. but there are a lot of dynamics going on. in south carolina, you know, i think we're the envy of the republican world. we've got nickey hailey as our governor. we have tim scott, the only african-american governor. we're work hard to go into places where we haven't been as a party. one of the things the democrats have had trouble with in the southern states is the migration from the north of retirees, which i know after running a party for eight years and spending millions of dollars getting the vote out that those are pretty fertile ground for us. >> let's look at some of the numbers. from 2000 to 2011, alabama had the fastest growing latino population out of any state in america, up 158%. the carolinas and georgia also saw triple-digit percentage

gains in their latino population. these are also states where there have been crackdowns on immigration. is that discouraging what could be a huge influx of new voters? >> i think that there's a lot of things at play that are either going to energize or discourage latino voters. but i think the numbers you cite are really, really key. in a state like north carolina, we're talking about a 600% increase in latinos from 1990 to 2000 and a 111% increase from 2000 to 2010. so even though a lot of these folks aren't eligible to vote, when you're talking about a state that was won by the president with 14,000 votes, 180,000 votes are actually swingable, right. these are votes that could decide the future of these states. the same goes for georgia. you had a 96% increase in latinos from 2000 to 2010. only 6% increase in white voters. so there's so many issues at play, and the broad coalitions

that are coming together for moral mondays definitely have latinos in mind, definitely have latino issues like medicaid and immigration in mind. even though, you know, the latino vote is often called the sleeping giant, i think that this past election proved that it's not sleeping in many places. but in southern states, it's up. it's a toss-up for the republican and the democratic party to really energize it. >> democrats are putting a lot of faith into a new generation of old families. in georgia alone, you have state senator jason carter, grandson of the former president, who is running for governor. and michelle nun trying to reclaim a senate seat held for 24 years by her father. is this because they have nothing to lose or does the party actually think that they're viable candidates? >> those are good names in that state. respectable families. they're going to run credible campaigns. they've got one problem. the president's numbers are upside down in georgia. that's part of a lot of these things that are going on right

now. the base is being motivated. the president is out there. he's going to lose the united states senate. a lot of it is going to be on the weight of his shoulders. he's going to have to do a tremendous amount to get that base vote to move, the same one that moves and re-elected him president. those are good names. the n urk nn name is a powerful name in georgia. the carter name also. i don't think either one will be successful, but it's been very competitive. >> a southern democrat doesn't always drive with the national democratic party exactly. last month, jason carter voted for the so-called guns everywhere bill, expanding the right to carry concealed weapons in georgia. he later called himself an nra democrat. that is not something that you hear very often. melissa, what exactly is an nra democrat? >> i live in louisiana, so i have a sense of what this is. i think we need to put that in historical context. part of the issue here is that it has always been true that the demographics of the south are quite different than the electorate of the south as a matter of public policy.

so these minority communities or progressive communities have always existed in the south but were often shut out. what we see with the gutting of the voting rights act and particularly of a formula that covered many of these places is that even if the demographics change, you end up in a position where so many people won't have their voices heard. they won't have their voices heard because they cannot make it to the polls because of these new rules like voter i.d., shortening the voting day, that kind of thing. i think we have to be careful about this notion that it is simply -- that who is elected is simply a replex of who lives in the state. it's not always an appropriate reflection of who lives in the state. it's sometimes a matter of who's given access to the polls. >> south carolina has been home to some of the most notorious smear campaigns in political history. the 2000 primary between george w. bush and john mccain was

centered around rumors that mccain fathered an illegitimate black child. with these changing demographics, are these types of whisper campaigns going to fly anymore? >> yeah, i don't think so. both melissa and i were born and raised and live in the south and understand southern politics in a unique way. it's always been personal. it's always been tough. it is a place where the right to vote is important to us. both have been democrat and republican dominated legislatures. it's always going to be a place where it's going to be very personal. do the whisper campaigns work? the difference now is they're on blogs, the internet, social media, twitter. you know, so that whisper campaign now is in a great megaphone. and it's probably pretty good for the process. a lot of it sticks, and some of it doesn't. i think the voters have become very wise to the rumors and innuendos and are more looking for the facts.

we'll see, but it hasn't changed much, maiilissa. >> all right. thanks to all of you. >> thank you. >> thank you. up next, bitcoin. what's it all about, and is it something you should take seriously? this is msnbc. [ children yelling ] [ telephone rings ] [ shirley ] edward jones. this is shirley speaking. how may i help you? oh hey, neill, how are you? how was the trip? [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... [ shirley ] he's right here. hold on one sec. [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪

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and we'll be here at lifelock doing our thing: you do your shop from anywhere thing, offering protection that simple credit score monitoring can't. get lifelock protection and live life free. there could be a new smartphone on the market very soon. "the wall street journal" reports that amazon could announce its device as early as june and start shipping by september ahead of the holiday shopping season. the phone would put the online retailer in further competition against apple and samsung. you've heard the word bitcoin probably dozens of times, but do you know what it is? well, this week craig melvin went to a gathering of some 3,000 bitcoin enthusiasts here in new york city. the participating were all eager to figure out how this virtual currency could make them some real money. bitcoin is today's big idea, and we wanted to answer the question

just what exact ily is it? >> it's digital cash. all the things you can do with a dollar bill, you can do with bitcoin. the technology is here to state. i don't know if it's necessarily this. netscape was the first browser. it's not here anymore. i think the technology will change the world. >> bitcoin is a decentralized global currency. there will only ever be 21 million. there right now is about 12.5 million. no government controls it. there's no corporation controlling it. bitcoin is not a company. everyone on earth has equal ability to participate in the network. >> what's happening here in broad terms? >> what you're seeing is a combination of a learning experience and a bizarre in terms of people who are interested in learning how to buy and sell bitcoin. but overall, i think there are more people here who see this is the next great opportunity as an entrepreneur. >> i recently learned about

bitcoin. credit card processing is a real nightmare. i'm looking at bringing these currencies in. >> what's wrong with the dollar? >> there's nothing wrong with the dollar except that to facilitate transactions online, the traditional payment network that surrounds the dollar is archaic. it was created in the 1950s. in many ways, it's still in the 1950s. >> bitcoin's road to the future is not without its bumps. the value of bitcoin has varied widely, and recently the irs ruled it's not a property, not a currency, so don't throw away your debit and credit cards just yet. do you have a big idea? let us know about it on twitter using #whatisthebigidea or e-mailing us at bigidea .msnbc. up next, the olympic runner fighting for his freedom. are his words on the stand helping or hurting him? later, the heart wrenching

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i wouldn't say that i went there to shoot someone. >> now, if you did not go there to shoot someone, what did you want to do then? >> i wanted to make the person that was in my house flee, my lady. get away from the danger, causing danger to myself and to reeva. >> that was olympian oscar pistorius in his fifth day on the witness stand, trying to make the case he shot and killed his girlfriend by accident. he is addressing the judge there when he says, my lady. his first week on stand was filled with emotion and some contentious moments between himself and the prosecutor. karen desoto, the prosecution is taking a very aggressive strategy towards this. what do you make of the line of

questioning? >> each prosecutor has their own style. okay. and there's a lot of attorneys who come out like a pit bull, a lot like this person. that's not my strategy. my strategy in a case like this, because it involves domestic violence, is i want the judge to see him very calm and then eventually i want to get his adrenaline levels up. then i want to start asking him questions so he gets defensive so people can see what he might have been like when reeva was in that bathroom. so it's just a stylistic thing. >> and how do you think his reaction is going so far? >> it's very metered. the crying i don't think works because, again, this is not a situation where you have a jury. this is a three-judge panel. as an attorney, i can assure you that my style is going to be much different if i'm playing to a judge and not a jury. so the emotions, the crying, all of that stuff that he's going to be doing or is doing and has done throughout the course of the trial, isn't going to affect a judge like it is a jury.

so that emotional element is not something that's going to help him. >> i want to bring up something that happened on thursday. a prosecutor brought up an incident before reeva steenkamp's death where pistorius was charged with firing a gun in public. he argued this was an example of him not taking responsibility. so let's listen to that. >> i don't think responsibility has anything to do with your life being interpreted to millions of people around the world, my lady. the truth is the truth. >> you see, i'm putting it to you here. you fired that gun. there is no other way that bullet could have been discharged without you pulling the trigger. you are lying. >> so he's calling him a liar. >> right. >> flat out. >> yeah, sure. you know, some attorneys do this. again, i'm not a big fan of that. sometimes, depending on who the judge is, you're going to get severely admonished. again, this is a judge. you don't have to tell or say he's a liar. you can trust me that a judge is

smart enough to figure out what somebody is lying and somebody isn't. this is a person who has seen it all, been there, done that. it's not necessary to act like this, but we also have to keep in mind that this is one of the first instances that this has been televised. is he playing to the judge, or is he playing to the cameras? >> how do you think his testimony is going? we talked about it earlier, but is he actually hurting himself? >> oh, my gosh, is he hurting himself. >> honestly, that's my view as not an attorney. >> it has to be your take. why? because there's so many -- now, we've already heard from the neighbors. first off, you're dealing with a situation where a person wakes up and shoots their loved one. the natural inclination off the hop is when a man wakes up, they're going to try and find out where their kids are, where their girlfriend is. the fact he was scared versus being a predator is at risk there. so his testimony now is so inconsistent with what the neighbors said, with what the witnesses said, his timeline is

totally off. so this is a situation as an attorney you would never put somebody on the stand. it really is the rule of thumb not to put your client on the stand because if things are inconsistent, if they don't add up, that's going to make them look guilty not the way he wants to come off, which is a fearful person who was just a miserable accident. >> and there are reports that she had been afraid of him in the past. what do you think is his biggest problem? >> i think -- first of all, if you could get off on the first degree, that would be great. again, he has the lesser included defense of culpable negligence or culpable, which would be our equivalent to manslaughter. he's right off the hop the fact he didn't wake up and say, hey, honey, where are you? i think somebody's in the house. or scream out. right there, it's a problem. i think that gets you right there to reckless behavior. so there's so many things that are wrong. again, it's 3:00 in the morning. she's clothed. she's in the bathroom. it's locked. i mean -- >> karen desoto, thank you. >> thanks.

up next, with thousands of russian troops on the border, new attacks and occupation inside eastern ukraine today are making for some very frayed nerves. and president obama lays it out like we've never heard him. in the nation, it's not always pretty. but add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance... ...and we'll replace destroyed or stolen items with brand-new versions. we take care of the heat, so you don't get burned. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

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and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking breo. ask your doctor about b-r-e-o for copd. first prescription free at mybreo.com and this must be one of the more cautiously optimistic leads that we have because the signals are similar to a black box. >> the sounds are similar to but not definitely from the missing plane. good afternoon. i'm milissa rehberger in for craig melvin. with the clock ticking on the batteries powering those black boxes, the race is on to nail down where those pings are coming from. pro-russian protesters have taken over more government buildings in eastern ukraine. we're live with a look at just how tense it is getting there. i know people want information regarding the investigation right away.

that takes a lot of time. we may not have some answers for months. >> the mystery of what sent a big rig slamming into a bus filled with high school students leads to questions about how such a tragedy might be prevented in the future. merely a year after the boston bombing, there are some unprecedented preparations ahead of this year's marathon. a look inside the what's being done to keep an eye in the sky. i was always wondering where my spoons were going. and i really thought that maybe the kids were throwing them out with their plates. no, that's not where the spoons were going. >> and later, as america's heroin epidemic rages on, we talk to a mother who lost her son. and find out what she wishes she knew before her son got hooked. after signs of a potential breakthrough in the search for flight 370, there still may be a long way to go. it's a race against time as we're already well past the

shelf life of the batteries. ian williams has the latest. >> reporter: good day to you. today prime minister tony abbott was a good deal more cautious than he was friday, when he was confident we were close to perhaps recovering that black box. instead, he was talking about the rapidly fading signal from the black box and the massive, massive task that lies ahead in trying to find flight mh-370. the reality is, there have been no confirmed signals, no sounds consistent with a black box since tuesday. until they can find more sound, until they get a more complex picture of what's going on down there, it's very difficult for them to deploy the submersible, the vehicle that's going to go down and take a closer look at what's lying on the ocean floor. now, they want to do that as soon as they can, but that

vehicle operates at walking pace. so until they can get a better idea of where the sounds are coming from, they don't really want to deploy that vehicle. at the moment, it is still a very complicated and very slow task. i think that was the reality of what tony abbott was saying today, milissa. >> ian williams, thank you. now to the latest on the investigation into that deadly bus crash in california. right now ten people are confirmed killed in that crash. and we're learning more about those victims. most of whom were on their way to visit humboldt state university. >> we charter these buses every year to bring them up because sometimes they otherwise couldn't afford to come and see for themselves what the campus is like. >> nbc's stephanie stanton joins me now from chico, california. stephanie, what do we know at this hour? >> reporter: well, good afternoon to you again, milissa. it is certainly a daunting process to identify these victims because some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. so they need dental records to

make a positive i.d. so far, five of the victims have been identified. in fact, late last night we got word from the family of marissa serrano that she was, in fact, declared dead in this accident. her family had been asked for dental records. as you might imagine, that family very distraught last night getting that news that marissa, who was a twin, was pronounced dead. two adult chaperons also among the victims. 29-year-old michael mivette and his fiance madison haywood, they were among the victims. the pair had just gotten engaged in paris. another victim, 26-year-old arthur arzola. he was an admissions counselor with humboldt state. he died at uc davis medical center in sacramento, suffering burns over 95% of his body. finally, so far el monte high school in the los angeles area, they've lost one of their senior

football players, adrian castro confirmed dead. so far, three other high school students have not been officially confirmed dead. they are among the missing at this point. but presumed dead. the names of both drivers of the truck and the bus, they've not yet been released. >> stephanie, i understand authorities are looking into a new eye-witness account of this crash, is that correct? >> reporter: they are. the ntsb is in the very early stages of its investigation. they asked for eyewitnesses to come forward. we heard yesterday from a couple. they were driving a vehicle they say they were hit by the fedex truck before it crossed the center divider. they say that truck was already on fire before it crossed that grassy divider and slammed into the bus. that is certainly something that the ntsb is going to be taking a very close look at. they're going to be, of course, re-creating the accident scene, trying to determine why that fedex truck slammed into the bus. some of the other things they're going to be looking at, speed,

how fast was the truck going, mechanics, as well as possible human error. >> nbc's stephanie stanton in chico, california. thank you. president obama is stepping up his rhetoric, pushing his party to get to work and protect its voters heading into this year's midterm elections. the president addressed reverend al sharpton's national action network in new york on friday. mr. obama stressed the importance of the sacrifices that were made so that all can have the right to vote. let's listen to that. >> america did not stand up and did not march and did not sacrifice to gain the right to vote for themselves and for others only to see it denied to their kids and grandchildren. we've got to pay attention to this. >> nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. hey, kristen. what's the reaction so far? >> reporter: well, president obama was speaking to his base there, so he got a good reaction. his goal, the goal of democrats, is to use that to be get democrats to go to the polls in big numbers in november.

president obama had incredibly strong words yesterday, accused republicans of rigging elections with these new voter i.d. laws. in the past 15 months, nine states have enacted new laws. president obama yesterday didn't propose any new legislation but said he stands firmly behind his attorney general eric holder, who has tried to combat some of these new voter i.d. laws. republicans insist the new laws are not going to deny folks the right to vote. but again, this is going to be a big hot-button issue this election year. we should also say there's a new debate surrounding a proposal that was put forth by civil rights leader andrew young, which would put photo i.d.s on social security cards, milissa. so far, president obama hasn't weighed in on that. >> before his trip to new york, the president said good-bye to health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. what's the reaction been from the other side of the aisle to her resignation? >> reporter: well, president obama in announcing secretary

sebelius' resignation said he was nominating sil se ining sil matthews burwell. the reaction that is mixed. most republicans not taking aim at silvia matthews burwell. for example, eric cantor said sebelius had an impossible task, that, quote, nobody can make obamacare work. senator saxby chambliss saying he does have some concerns about burwell's policies. that's something that will come up in the confirmation hearings. but john mccain said the choice of burwell, is a, quote, excellent choice. of course, if she were to be confirmed, burwell would take over at a really critical moment for the president's health care law. the next enrollment period begins in november. she could oversee another expansion of medicaid. in addition to that, one challenge will be to try to keep premiums low. this is someone who has a track

record here of being a tested manager. she's a 48-year-old mom of two. she sailed through her confirmation hearings last year for omb director. she was unanimously approved, milissa, but this is of course a very different year. this is an election year. and of course health care is contentious, so we anticipate the hearings will be contentious. but political analysts say they expect her to ultimately be confirmed. >> nbc's kristen welker at the white house. thank you. >> thanks. still to come, what the growth and craft beer brewing can mean for local economies and local taste buds. but first, big names in the gop are speaking up in the granite state today, but there aren't really any fresh faces. why is that? we'll ask one of the organizers of the new hampshire get together. that's up next. y color? innovative cc cream from nice 'n easy. our advanced treatment helps keep highlights and lowlights shiny and luminous. cc cream, find it in every box of nice 'n easy. the most natural shade of you.

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here's what's topping our political headlines at this hour. president obama and mrs. obama's earnings dropped significantly last year. the first couple earned about $480,000 and paid nearly $100,000 in taxes. in 2012, the obamas reported just over $600,000 in income. that drop is largely due to weakening seams of the president's books. back in 2009, the income from book sales came in about $5.2 million. meanwhile, republicans are breaking ground in the granite state today. at least half a dozen potential presidential candidates are in new hampshire to unofficially kick off the 2016 primary season. including the man you see there, texas senator ted cruz. he took an old message to a new crowd. >> as a result of the men and women in this room, as a result of millions of men and women standing up and saying,

obamacare is a disaster, it is not working, it is hurting millions of americans, i am convinced we're going to repeal every single word of obamacare. >> joining me now is one of the organizers of today's event. >> great to be here. thank you. >> some of the speakers today include mike huckabee, senators ted cruz and mike lee. many of these men call themselves tea partiers or were basically elected in the tea party wave. they might sail through a republican primary, but do they think they can win a national election with one of these candidates? >> well, i don't speak on behalf of the gop because we're a nonpartisan organization, but i can tell you this. i can tell you that a dialogue about returning our country back to the economic freedom that our previous generations enjoyed is something that should be at the foremost of everyone's mind right how it. if that starts with u.s. senators and former elected officials and governors setting

the stage so we can return to fiscal responsibility, i think that's a step in the right direction for not only us here in new hampshire but for everyone across the country. >> let's talk about some of the big names that are not there today. jeb bush, governor chris christie, marco rubio, paul ryan. these are potential candidates that tend to pull at least within striking distance of hillary clinton, should she run. why are they not there? >> well, i don't speak for their campaigns, obvious, but they were all invited to the organization. i do know that a number of them had conflicts as we reached out to them. you also have to remember, we had personalities like lorry ingram and donald trump here. so this wasn't just about elected and former elected officials. this is about the dialogue of returning our country to the economic freedom we so deserve and have failed under this administration. >> donald trump, as we see here, mentioned earlier jeb bush earlier today, and there were boos from the crowd. is jeb bush, in your opinion, still viable within the party? >> i think jeb bush, you know,

and his mother said this. it's probably time for a different president whose last name wasn't bush or clinton. i think we can look at other families out there and other opportunities. but really, what we want to do is we want to have a discussion. a discussion about the $6 trillion in additional debt we've seen on our children and grandchildren that have been compiled over the last ten years. let's talk about the burdens of obamacare and what that's done here in new hampshire where almost half of the hospitals don't qualify any longer for individuals to receive health care. let's go back and have a discussion about those long lines that you'll get for the quality of care and the increase of the burden of cost for individuals who are subjected to obamacare. medicaid expansion here in new hampshire. that's really what this is about. finding opportunities for families to rein in government spending and bring them back to reality. >> the other big news in new hampshire is scott brown announcing his senate run. here's what ted cruz told our own kacie hunt earlier today. let's listen to that. >> the decision of who a nominee is in any state is a decision for the grassroots activists.

i respect the grassroots activists to make the decision that's appropriate for their state. >> didn't exactly sound like an endorsement, did it? >> well, it didn't. and i respect senator cruz for his position. i think, you know, we here in new hampshire take the responsibility of vetting presidential candidates and candidates for office very seriously. we're a first in the nation primary state for a reason. as many of you know, we're spoiled. we get to see these candidates come through time and time again to ask them the hard questions, look in their eyes, shake their hands, truly understand who they are as a person. so for an elected official to come into our state who's not from here and to make an endorsement of a candidate who is running for office, i don't think would be appropriate in the first place. >> your organization americans for prosperity has already spent half a million dollars on ads attacking obamacare in states with key senate elections. with kathleen se bill yus gone, do you feel the party has lost one of its main punching bags? >> i don't think so. as i said earlier today, we'd be

happy to hire kathleen sebelius here. she told us we had 1.7 million people in the room today. anybody who had trouble getting their ticket, don't worry, we'll extend the deadline. you can get a ticket tomorrow for the event. so we're very happy with kathleen sebelius and her new position, which she'll find hopefully in the private sector. >> we learned this week that 7.5 million enrollees have enrolled in obamacare. when those numbers rise, is your organization going to remain that this is a bad law and people would be better off without health insurance? >> i think what it comes down to is the honestly factor. we heard it time and time again. if you like your health care, you can keep it. the truth is, you can't. we heard that by passing obamacare, families would receive a $2500 per year credit towards their health insurance. their health insurance costs would go down. the bottom line is, they haven't. they've gone up. we've seen waivers for big corporations and not for the individuals. so we need to relook at the true

impact of that, not just here in new hampshire, but across the country, of what it's doing to the working families. >> cory, thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me. remember former senator scott brown's pickup truck? well, it's back. >> scott brown has almost 300,000 miles on this truck. over the last few weeks, it's taken him all across new hampshire, listening, learning. >> learning what it will take to win a seat as new hampshire's new senator. the former massachusetts senator is trying to win residents over with his every-man style of campaigning. the pickup truck was a popular prop for brown during his first run for senate. he faces three other republicans in the primary to take down incumbent democrat jeanne shaheen. you're watching msnbc. is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪

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the video from the scene proved invaluable to that investigation. for this year's race, hundreds of cameras are being installed along the marathon route. video will be available on realtime and also recorded. the cameras won't just be focused on the race route either. they'll scan the crowd as well. >> a lot of what we're trying to do is aim at areas on the side of the route, places where there's large crowds so we can get as many, you know -- watch for things like suspicious packages or ideas of crowds moving, which would be valuable. >> officials say the one thing the system will not include is video from cameras owned by private businesses. we want to turn to developing news. new signs today the ukraine crisis could be reaching a boiling point. armed men have reportedly opinioned police headquarters in the city of donetsk. pro-russian protesters have been occupying another building there for nearly a week. the chief of police said he will resign.

nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins us now. you were in one town where the police station was overrun by pro-russian militia. tell us what's happening there. >> reporter: that's correct. in fact, it's one of five different cities that now has government buildings firmly in the hands of pro-russian separatists militias. we're seeing a pattern develop. but where we went today was somewhat peculiar. we went to this police station and saw for ourselves armed men openly displaying their rifles and pistols. many of them wearing military uniforms. a lot of them when we were speaking to them asking them how they got these weapons, either nodding or suggesting that they got them from russia. the impression we were getting from those that we spoke to on the ground was that these separatists now in control of this police station want to see their cities break away from ukraine. some of them even suggesting a unification with russia. the eastern part of the country sin creasingly in the hands of

the separatists, at least in these five cities. and it is posing a crisis for the ukrainian government. this evening, the country's president held an emergency meeting with the national security council to discuss the ongoing security crisis that the eastern part of the country is facing. in fact, as we pass from these towns and cities, we saw first-hand several check points set up by these militias, many brandishing their own weapons privately and stopping vehicles and asking people who was inside and what they were doing. so it is a tense situation that is unfolding in the eastern part of the country. >> and mean while, nato released some satellite photos that sew russia re-enforcing its military presence on the ukraine border. what do those satellite photos tell us? >> reporter: well, they certainly show that the russian military maintains a strong presence on the border, giving it the option of intervening militarily at any point with

very little notice or alarm, if you will, to both ukrainian and western allies in nato. more portly, the russian government is insisting they do not have any plans to intervene or invade ukraine. they have no intentions whatsoever of moving their military assets across the border. they've said that time and time again to try to allay some of those concerns and fears that have been raised by the west. but russia does maintain that presence. and it is a cause of concern for the ukrainian government. they're not holding back their punches. they're saying a lot of the crises that they're dealing with now in the eastern part of the country are directly related to russia. russia is behind them, at least that's the argument that's coming out of the government in kiev. they're blaming moscow for, if you will, creating these tensions that are now unfolding, being provocative and more importantly by keeping the military on the border they then have this pressure, if you will, that they maintain over the ukrainian government. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin in ukraine. thank you. up next, the impact of the heroin epidemic across the

nation. we'll talk to one mother who lost her son to his addiction. this is msnbc. i think she tried to kill us. oh, i can barely move a muscle. i don't have any muscles left. [ sighs ] [ chuckles ] you should really clean your ceiling fan. are you kidding me? you're gonna just throw away the last hour? no, it's only 15 calories. [ male announcer ] with reddi wip, fruit never sounded more delicious. at least i can die happy. [ male announcer ] and hard work won't have to go to waste. mmm. with 15 calories per serving and real cream, the sound of reddi wip is the sound of joy.

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las vegas police release the mug shot of a woman accused of throwing a shoe at former secretary of state hillary clinton during a speech in las vegas on thursday. allison ernst was arrested for disorderly conduct and has now been released. according to the incident report, she was seen reaching into her purse and showing a shoe at clinton. no charges have been filed at this time. i'm milissa rehberger in for craig melvin. port authority officials say there was another security failure at one world trade center in new york this week. according to officials, a man with an appointment this week walked through an open gate where a construction truck was leaving. this marks the fourth breach at the building since september. meanwhile, a judge in pakistan is throwing out murder charges against a 9-month-old baby. the baby and his relatives were charged with attempting to murder a police officer after

his family clashed with police and gas company workers tried to collect overdue bills. and friends and family members mourn the death of an associated press reporter. she was killed in an attack earlier this month. ap correspondent kathy gannon was wounded in that attack. nbc news this week is examining the growing heroin problem in this country. the numbers are staggering. over a five-year period, heroin abuse has nearly doubled across america. the crisis is so bad in parts of vermont that this year the state's governor devoted his entire state of the state address to that epidemic, calling it a full-blown heroin crisis. nbc's kate snow reports. >> reporter: look past the lighthouses and covered bridges. as we drove through, we found another new england where a bucket of needles measures the scale of the problem in portland, maine. when did you start filling that bucket? >> this was changed this

morning. >> this morning? >> all of those are just from today. >> reporter: parents support each other in salem, massachusetts. >> we found some needles in our room. it blew us away. >> reporter: and the walmart parking lot in quiet rutland, vermont, is the place where $10 buys a bag. the overdose deaths in vermont doubled in just one year. all over the state, there are waiting lists to get into treatment clinics. >> it's hard. i mean, the downhill spiral, it was so fast that i didn't know what i was doing. >> reporter: dr. dean mackenzie says heroin has a grip on this town. >> after a while, you're not doing it to get high. you're doing it to survive. you're doing it so you don't get sick. >> reporter: his wife, dr. sheryl mackenzie, is in the same field, a psychologist. they live in a beautiful home in the mountains with their young kids. their older son ryan took us on a tour of rutland.

>> there's a couple dealers on this road right here. >> reporter: on this road where the kids are riding their bikes? >> on the road where the kids are riding their bikes. >> reporter: how do you know that? >> because i've bought from there. >> reporter: that's right, the son of parents who death dedicated their lives to fighting substance abuse was secretly hooked on heroin while living in their home. the buy who had been a bookworm, a bright student, started using prescription painkillers and got addicted. but pills have become harder to come by in vermont. >> my dealer couldn't get them anymore, so i couldn't get them. then as i couldn't get them, heroin started to move in. >> she suggested heroin? >> yeah, she suggested heroin. it moved on from there. >> reporter: when ryan confessed he was addicted, sheryl went through his room. >> found needles and spoons. i was always wondering where my spoons were going. and i really thought that maybe the kids were throwing them out with their plates.

no, that's not where the spoons were going. >> reporter: you're doctors. >> uh-huh. >> we're parents. it's very easy to try to put on your doctor hat. we're parents. we're just like any other parent who's dealing with someone with an addiction. >> reporter: ryan tells us he's been clean for a year, as of last weekend. you love your son clearly. >> i adore my son. i absolutely adore my son. >> reporter: show loves this state too, and is working with others across the community to change what's happening here. >> every time we go to a meeting, it gets bigger and bigger. and that's what we need to see happen. people who have addictions to come forward, ask for help, don't be embarrassed. >> that was nbc's kate snow reporting. let's bring in the sue, who lost her son to heroin addiction in 200. she wrote about her loss in "why my son." she now speaks to students and parents about the danger of

addiction. i'm very sorry about your loss. >> thank you. >> do you know anything about how your son was introduced to the drug, and how did you find out? >> well, it was much later when i found out, but it was freshman year summer of high school. >> as a freshman? ninth grade? >> yes. he was around with a bunch of friends. he was offered to smoke marijuana. he was going to walk away from it, but last minute he decided and gave in. maybe due to peer pressure. he tried it and he liked it. from there on, he continued to smoke daily, which led him to doing other things such as cocaine, magic mushrooms, pills, and then ultimately heroin, which he lost his life from. >> how does your experience help you communicate with others? >> well, by being in this group that is called squash the secret and working with scared straight, which does presentations in schools, we try

to work on prevention, try to teach parents how to -- teach them about how they can talk to their kid, how can they prevent their child from going down the same path as my son. we just tell our stories, which are all very powerful. different but similar. and we just started doing this, going to different schools and speaking with parents. we are going to be speaking with kids as well. but if i had to say the most important thing is to really get to know your kids, their friends, and the parents of their friends. that's so important. >> well, the numbers are staggering. the department of health and human services reports that first-time heroin users climbed to 156,000 in 2012. do you think that is because, as in kate snow's story, other drugs become harder to come by? >> i believe so. plus, they're more expensive.

heroin is one of the cheaper drugs to get off the street. i believe that's why kids are getting more hooked on heroin. because it's too expensive to buy certain pills. so they get hooked very easily. >> do you think the government needs to take a role in this epidemic? >> yes, they do. i mean, i think they're trying to make strides with it, but it's going to take a while. it's just getting out of control. >> what are you seeing as far as a reaction goes when you do go to schools and places hike that and speak to people? and in very plain language about what happened to your family. >> well, they're very moved by my story because mark went through so many things. what i did as a parent was when i noticed, you know, his personality was changing, at first i thought it was a teenage phase of life. but i started watching him. like, i did the fbi act. i would search his room.

i used to find things in his room. i found a scale for drug selling. i found drug paraphernalia. >> did you confront him? >> i did, yes. i actually had to have him arrested, which was the hardest thing a parent could do. but that decision, i believe, prolonged his life for a while. but it's crazy because he used to -- he was getting better after he would get help. then he would -- it would revert right back to the craziness. so it was kind of like a roller coaster ride that we had with him. >> that's so tragic. i'm sorry about your loss, truly. >> thank you. >> anti-drug advocate, thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. etire? 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. so maybe we need to approach things differently,

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it's a day full of promise. and often, that day arrives by train. big day today? even bigger one tomorrow. csx. how tomorrow moves. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. will go down in history for is serving as the secretary of health and human services when the united states of america finally declared that quality, affordable health care is not a privilege but it is a right for

every single citizen of these united states of america. >> that was president obama yesterday bidding farewell to secretary sebelius and at the same time touting his health care plan. let's get to right to our brain trust. jonathan allen is white house reporter for bloomberg news. and amy holmes is the anchor of "the hot list" at the blaze. thank you all for being here today. jamie, let's start with you. the president is calling the affordable care act a success. but the gop jumped on it with renewed criticism. quote, secretary sebelius may be gone, but the problems with this law and the impact it is having on our constituents is not. what will it take to get to the point where the gop stops calling for the repeal of obamacare at every single turn? >> listen, they will never stop asking that. you know, president obama could send a bill to congress that says the white house is white,

and this congress would oppose it. you know, 7.5 million people have signed up for obamacare. more would be in the health care exchanges if all the republican governors would accept the medicaid expansion dollars. >> jonathan, the president has failed at moving some of his other big ideas through congress. immigration reform, gun law reform, equal pay, and higher minimum wage. are we at the point in politics where big ideas can no longer get through the political process? >> well, i think right now we're at that point. whether that remains to be the case i think depends a lot on what happens in the elections in november, what people are doing to try to position for 2016, past this midterm. is it a permanent state? i don't think so. obviously, the president hasn't been able to get anything major accomplished on his aygenda sine he lost control of the house of representatives after that first midterm back in 2010, which was a lot of reaction to the health care law initially and to what

democrats were doing when they controlled both chambers. >> amy, louisiana governor bobby jindal says he'll soon outline his own health care plan. is there room for a gop candidate for president to have a plan beyond repeal obamacare, and how will this play for him? >> the governor has laid out a 23-page plan for repeal and replace of obamacare. the house gop has passed numerous pieces of legislation to reform obamacare and frankly to repeal it as well. but of course, that's going nowhere in a democratically controlled senate. i think what the governor is doing right now is laying the groundwork for a 2016 potential candidacy where he can be a pro-reform candidate, but he's also giving republicans in his home state of louisiana some ammunition against mary landrieu, the senator there, who's in a very tough re-election battle. and she took the governor's plan seriously enough that she's already been attacking it. >> jonathan, jeb bush on fox

news last sunday made some remarks on undocumented immigrants that have raised a few eyebrows. let's listen. >> the way i look at this, and this is not -- i'm going to say this and it'll be on tape and so be it. they cross the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. it's an act of love. it's an act of commitment to your family. >> how will his voice of compassion here resonate with his party? >> i think there are a lot of people in the republican party, and already we've seen this, who are going to jump on that and say that, in fact, it is a crime and that it shouldn't be phrased that way. that said, jeb bush, if he's running in a republican primary, is going to try to distinguish himself from the rest of the field as a candidate who much like his brother supports a comprehensive immigration plan or certainly something that's a lot farther than the folks on the right would like to do.

you know, i think this language comports with that of his brother on immigration reform. it comports with that of a lot of the broad swath of the middle and certainly the way democrats look at immigration reform. where it might hurt him in a primary to get to a general election, talking about an act of love to help one's family is something that could be potentially good for him. >> i'd like to jump in on this. the gop already nominated someone who's pro-comprehensive immigration reform in 2008 in the form of senator john mccain. this came up again in 120 when we were looking at the gop there. and newt gingrich, he was pro-comprehensive immigration reform. he went on to win his home state after making those remarks. i think the media tends to overblow the immigration issue when it comes to the gop. >> jamie, let's go back to you and jeb bush. if he wants to run for president, he may face a fight from a former protege, senator

marco rubio. here's what politico is reporting. senator rubio insisted the former governor's potential candidacy for the presidential nomination would not deter him from seeking his party's nod himself. what could the gop's struggle to find a viable candidate look like? >> you know, part of the problems that the gop has in the 2016 election cycle is that they have not grown their base of support since 2012. you know, nothing that any of these guys -- the ones in the senate or even jeb bush have done anything to bring more people into the republican party. so they're going to have a hard time in 2016. whereas the democrats have done a very good job of reaching out to women, reaching out to young people, making sure voting rights are protected. so it's going to be very difficult, but it's interesting to watch the dog fight on that side of the aisle. >> amy, what does it say about politics and the lack of a big, new idea, so to speak? if 2016 shapes up to be a

hillary clinton versus jeb bush contest. >> well, i think actually both fields are going to be pretty packed. i think 2016 is going to look for the gop like it did in 2012 where you have each of these candidates sort of surfing this wave of a small boom before the next one grabs conservative attention. i think democrats are going to be facing similar challenges in 2016. so far there isn't a whole lot of real passion for hillary clinton. i mean, people are talking about sort of her walking away with the nomination, but i think democrats also have a lot of very ambitious politicians on their side of the aisle who might like to get that top job. >> all right. we have to leave it there. jamie harrison, jonathan allen, and amy holmes, thank you. >> thank you, milissa. next up, you might say beer is an american institution. now it's taking a turn in a way that could help boost local economies. this is msnbc. ♪ thoughtful combinations, artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys.

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as old man winter makes his slow exit, the cherry blossoms have made their bold and beautiful entrance. a sea of pink can be seen around the title basin just in time for the cherry blossom festival, which is currently underway. the trees are at full bloom for seven to ten days of the year. so check them out while you still can. americans love our beer. last year we drank $200 billion of fermented hops. it's dominated by anheuser busch and miller coors. i think everybody wants to know how you got your job. and how you got so lucky. >> indied deed i feel like the luckiest woman in the world. it's great to be part of the

craft brewing community. >> the winner last night was pelican brewery in pacific city, oregon. what do the judges look for? >> the world beer cup competition which takes place every other year is a matter of judging 94 different beer style categories. it's a blind judging competition so a high level of integrity and judges are following style guidelines that give them parameters to judge the beers. it's not subjective, it's not personal, it's a pretty rigorous blind tasting. so it produces results in what many people around the world call the olympics of beer that people are really proud to receive those awards. >> how many beers are they sampling at a time and can they even talk at the end of it? >> the judges, we structure it such that we try to minimize palette fatigue. we were excited for this year's world beer cup.

we had a panel of 219 judges so a diversity of palettes going through the tasting exercises. boy, did we need every one of those judges. we had the largest beer cup competition ever with more than 1,400 breweries from 58 different countries sending their beers. all told there were more than 4,700 different beers judged during the competition. >> over the past two decades there's been a steady decline in the number of americans that prefer beer as their alcoholic beverage of choice. but there are more breweries now since 1870. are we going through a beer renaissance? >> americans have always been beer lovers and we indeed are seeing a revolution in craft brewing. there are more than 2,800 craft breweries and they are growing in all different kinds of neighborhoods and diversity.

more than 400 breweries opened in the u.s. last year and they opened in all kinds of neighborhoods and pockets of the country that have more and less advanced kraft beer cultures. it's an exciting time to be a beer lover in the u.s. >> is it possible for some of these craft beers to actually challenge the big companies like anheuser busch? >> absolutely. what's so interesting to me is craft brewers are in this business because they love what they do at the intersection of art and science. the beer lover in the marketplace is voting with them with their dollars, with their wallets and with their palettes. it's an interesting time where craft brewing represents less than 8% market share by volume, but it's been growing at a phenomenal rate. it kbru by 18% in 2013 and that's the largest base for craft. in fact, the craft brewing community has been growing at an average rate of 10.9% over the

past decade. we're talking about phenomenal growth and we think there are bright skies ahead as well. >> do they face challenges in getting their beer out there to taste? >> absolutely. access to market is a key concern for craft brewers because they are small, because they are independent and because brewing is regulated both at the federal and state level. there are any number of complexities for craft brewers and they don't enjoy the economy of scale that the largest multinational brewers do enjoy. . >> do you have a favorite beer? >> i love all beers. for me it depends on the season. it depends on what i'm eating. it depends on the social context. >> that's fair enough. barbara, thank you for your time. that's our show, thank you for watching. craig will be back tomorrow. first, disrupt with karen finney. have a great saturday. when folks in the lower 48 think about what they get from alaska,

they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. thousands of people here in alaska are working to safely produce more energy. but that's just the start. to produce more from existing wells, we need advanced technology. that means hi-tech jobs in california and colorado. the oil moves through one of the world's largest pipelines. maintaining it means manufacturing jobs in the midwest. then we transport it with 4 state-of-the-art, double-hull tankers. some of the safest, most advanced ships in the world: built in san diego with a $1 billion investment. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. and no energy company invests more in the u.s. than bp. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america.

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thanks for disrupting your afternoon. i'm karen finney. we have disrupted our set. welcome to our new home in studio 3a here in rockefeller plaza. valerie garrett joins me for an exclusive interview. the race for 2016 on display in iowa and new hampshire. and obama derangement syndrome all on display this week. it's all coming up. >> it's scandal mania in the gop. >> i don't need lectures from you about contempt. >> you look at the way the attorney general of the united states was treated yesterday by a house committee. had nothing to do with me. what attorney general has had to deal with that kind of treatment. >> what's treated differently mean? >> you see