>> everyone who is running today knows why they are running, and everybody has a special reason to do it, and we are all running together. >> we didn't finish last year, but we will today. >> we won't go to northeastern, and we had friends at the finish line who spent time in the hospital, so we are running for them. >> we are from canada and we want to show them that we will not be intimidated or back down from doing what we love. >> and ron mott joining us live from near the finish line, and ron, in about an hour some of the first runners will cross, the elite runners there, but it is really an amazing spirit, and an amazing, i guess the best word is inspiration today to see the people back there in such large numbers. >> yeah, hey, there, tamron. it is almost hard to describe the sense of the emotion that the city is feeling today. there is a lot of pride. a sense of accomplishment, and making it through a very difficult year, and this is the 118th boston the marathon and

without saying that it goes to be the most anticipated one in the history of the race. and there is a lot of security here, and anywhere you look here in the common, you can see the security, and all along the 26.2-mile course. it is not so overwhelming that people are thinking it is taking away from the experience, but i had a few moments with the new police commissioner who has run a number of these mares on this, but this year, he is in a suit and tie, because his role has changed as the top cop of boston, and i asked him about the responsibility to make sure that the event goes off safe ly >> well, we have been planning for this for six months meetings after meetings, and it is a lot of pressure on me, but it is more personal on me, and it is still emotional for me today. we went through a lot over the last 12 months, and seeing what

happened on boylston street last year, and what the victims have gone through, and that is the, you know, we all have the adrenaline to show that the day will go off without a hitch. >> there is a lot of adrenaline here in the boston common, because some of the family members will join up with the loved ones in the race, and with we rare expecting the are elite runners to run in unbelievably 26 miles in under 2:00, so we are expecting finish right over here on boylston street, tamron in just under two hour hours. and those to make it for the race is bombing survivor heather abbott. she was in a restaurant last year throwing her to the ground in the explosion, and tearing off her leg. she will be wearing a prosthetic to cross the line with aaron

chatham, and she became friends with him after patriot player matt chatham carried h her to safety. >> how are you, this morning? >> fantastic. thank you. >> i have read your story and brought the tears and then cheering you and so there you r and tell me about the day, and when you will get into the race. >> i am really excited about today. i am about to head over to the restaurant to meet a group of my friends, including those who were with me last year, and hang out with the joe andruzzi foundation folks and wait for them to come through, and waiting for aaron chatham to round the corner on comm avenue and hereford street. and i will run the last mile with her. >> and i have read how torn you

are, and you have accomplished something, and erin is going to be there with you by her side, and this is following in the footsteps of the day that you have an injury that you live with for the rest of your life? >> yeah, i mean, it is pretty emotional, and last year i met erin under such tragic circumstances, and as the year has gone on, she has trained to run the marathon, and i have trained to walk on my prosthetic l leg, and run on the blade leg, and it is getting to be a real big accomplishment for both of us to cross the finish line together. >> and i know that making it back to the mare nonis that goal in front of you, and the thing that keeps you going when your body is tired. but i also read that one of the things that inspired you and one of the favorites around here beyonce was a part of your, i guess your inspiration, and tell me a little bit about that. >> well, yeah. beyonce invite med to her

concert last summer when she was here in boston and i got to go backstage and meet her, and it was terrific. she was so supportive and concerned about what had happened to her friends back in boston last year, and it was great to meet her. >> and so when you make it across the finish line, today, with your friend erin, obviously, it has not happened yet, but i can't imagine the joy that will seep through your body and that of erin's as just the champion that you are. >> thank you. yeah, i'm sure it is going to be a great feeling. >> we will be routing for you, and congratulations on getting to this point. i know that it has been a journey of hills and valleys as they say, but today, you are beaming. i can barely take my eyes off of the screen, because you have a glow. it is so great to see you. >> thank you very much.

>> absolutely. well, turning now no theto other story we are following is the tragedy in south korea where the ferry sinking and the country is comparing the acts of the captain and the crew of that ship to murder. that is the word of the president. and anguished families are awaiting word on their children with the number of people killed in that disaster at 87, but more than 200 are missing and four more crew members with were taken into custody today. and meanwhile, transcripts show chaos and confusion on the ship when it started to list. a passenger asked a marine comptroller to answer by saying that the passengers should put more clothing and life jackets on. and bill neely has an update from south korea. >> good morning, tom tamron.

extraordinary condemnation from the ship's crew from the top here. south korea's president park ca calling the action ogs of the captain and the crew incomprehensible, and they deserved the passengers and the first to escape. it is like murder, she said, and it cannot and should not be tolerated. she is not only siding with the families in calling for justice, but she is piling the pressure on the authorities to get to the bottom of how on earth this happened, and the prosecutors have now detained four more crew members, including the chief g engineer, and they are suspected of failing to protect the passengers. remember, the captain and two crew members have already been charged, and the captain with criminal negligence, and the new video has emerged of the captain in a promotional video shot four years ago, and it is is about this very route, this very journey. he saying that it is perfectly safe, and he says, traveling by ferry is the safest form of travel of all as long as the

passengers obey the directions of the crew. well sh well, on this ship, that is exactly what they did, and it cost them their lives, because the crew told them to stay inside. the rescue operation is continuing, and the number of bodyings recovered from the ship are rising all of the time. and i had a chance to go out to operation myself on a small boat today, and look at it close-up, and it is extraordinary, and there are dozens of large and small boats an ships out there, and hundreds of divers accessing the sunken ship. they are bringing up the bodies more or less one by one, and not much other debris to be seen, and there is an oil slick on the surface of the water, but that it is in terps of the leak ship. and the civilian dive team says that the ship is completely flooded. he says there are no air

pockets. there are no survivors. back to you, tamron. >> thank you, bill. in one day after deadly violence in ukraine threatened a fragile truce agreement, vice president biden is on the ground there, and he is expected to announce new aid package for the country. and we are going to go live there. >> and a teenager is alive after flying halfway across the pacific ocean inside of the wheel well of an airplane, and how did he survive and how did he breach the airport security, and the fbi is now investigating. and this. >> excuse me. >> and okay. the pennsylvania teenager who asked miss america to the prom was suspended after the school told him not to do it. some people have sided with him, and others feel like, listen, rules are rules, and the school officials are in charge. well, he claims that he is shocked by the national attention that he has received.

and does the crime fit the punishment? it is the "newsnation" gut check. and join the conversation on twitter with tamron hall and my team at "newsnation." [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain. it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age

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sources tell msnbc that drone strikes have been carried out in yemen targeting al qaeda militants and strikes have killed at least 25 militants, and those strikes started saturday and continue through today. and they come several days after a video posted showing the leader off al qaeda in the arabian peninsula addressing a gathering of more than 100 militants there in yemen. and we will keep an eye on that. and hours ago, vice president joe biden met in ukraine to meet with the country's leaders amid the unfolding crisis. vice president biden is expected

to announce a package of technical and economic aid assistance. this comes a week after the fragile truce that was tested with a deadly shootout with a check point in ukraine run by pro-russian militants. it happened after they opened fire on a truck, and we have jim neely live there in donesk, and this morning, ser gay lav rov accused them of violating the crucial geneva truce reached just last week. >> yes, that is true, tamron. the three-day truce called by the kiev government is holding, but today is the third day, and as you say, it is severely tested by the attack on the pro russian checkpoint saturday. and now the pro-russian separatists blame the right

sector which is blaming the russian special forces, and perhaps the worst fallout of the alleged sunday violence and i have to say "alleged" because a lot of it and we saw it up close, a lot of it is very suspicious, and the fallout still is that ordinary ukrainians that we are speaking of are at the scene, and elsewhere in eastern ukraine, and not the extremists, but the people in the east who have wanted the dialogue of the kiev, at least some of them are prepared to join with the separatists as a result of the attacks. and if russia is driving the insurgency as suggested by kiev and the west and the goal is to incite division, it does seem to be working. there is no surrendering of the weapons, and no leaving of the buildings that we have seen by either side either pro-ukrainian or pro-russian, and the bottom line here, tamron, there is a lull right now, but it could be

the calm before a dangerous storm. back to you. >> and back to the vice president being there, and some of the aid that has been announced, certainly, a great debate over whether the u.s. should do more and senator john mccain saying that the u.s. is not doing enough, and what is the reaction to the technical and economic aid that is going to be announced? >> well, prime minister that we saw on "meet the press" sunday has laid out a litany of needs. political needs, economic needs, military needs, and of course, he has asked the united states for more weapons and training, and he e won't get that. vice president biden is expected to announce as you suggested a package of economic and energy and governance assistance, and all of that is much needed as well, and much appreciated by the government in kiev, and the deal, and especially the deal to get the ukrainian forces enough

short-term gas in case putin turns off the taps. the vmt h-- vice president has three important meetings with the cabinet leaders and the civil society leaders to discuss political reforms and the may election, and so it is a lot to get done, tamron, in a short term, because he leaves in 48 hours, and perhaps this is symbolic, but it is a show of support for a country struggling to get the grips on power here. >> jim maceda, we appreciate it. and shocking new study showing that pollution is far worse than the minority neighborhoods than the white neighborhoods, and the dangerous levels could lead to asthma, heart attacks and the author of

the report will join me. and monday 21st, the boston red sox will plan a special tribute to the marathon. and they will wear special jerseys, and it will be an annual tradition. last night, the team held a pre-game ceremony to honor the bombing victims. and it was beautiful. and today, the music who faces six months in jail for allegedly assaulting a man outside of a d.c. hotel, and today, the judge ruled that his body guard was guilty of assault. event, get a great deal on a jetta tdi. it gets 42 highway miles per gallon. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. volkswagen has the most tdi clean diesel models of any brand. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models.

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step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. as earth week kicks off to d tod today, a new eye-opening study is revealing how the pollution is disproportionately affecting the health of minorities across the country. the researchers at a the university of minnesota call it environmental injustice and found on average that minorities in the u.s. are exposed to 38% higher levels of nitrogen dioxide than whites. nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant

created by cars and construction equipment and industrial sources and linked to higher risks of asthma and heart attacks and joining me is the author of the study, julian marshall, associate professor of environmental engineering at the university of minnesota. >> good morning, tamron. >> and i stated that nitrogen dioxide is found in cars and industrial equipment and so that sounds like something that you would find in any neighborhood, white or black or hispanic or asian and why are you seeing the higher numbers in the minority communities? is. >> absolutely. this is a pollutant that is in all neighborhoods and found across the u.s., but the concentrations vary, and so what we did is to create a detailed map of how the pollution levels were higher or lower on the u.s., and then overlaid to the census information, and where people live and how the exposure varies from the race or the

income level. >> well, looking at new york, and philadelphia and bridge forth, and stanford, connecticut, and providence, boston, and rhode island and new haven as ear a yas that have the no 2 disproportionately affecting minorities, but when you are looking at the background of new york, a densely populated city, obviously, but multicultural, boston and providence, rhode island, and high minority populations, but not certainly the majority, and how are you getting the numbers, especially looking at the communities that have diversity? >> sure. so, like many studies, ours perhaps raises as many questions as it answers, and we were tending to look at what is, and not exactly explaining what is happening, but from the study, looking at the kons traxs higher and lower and where people live of different groups by race as you mentioned, and looking at the correlations there, and we are seeing that the correlations

differ by city. and some city have relatively large gap between the whites and the nonwhites and some cities don't. and so, you mentioned some of the cities that have higher gaps, and one of the surprising things that we found is that even in the relatively clean air cities and the clean air states you can have the large gaps between the whites and the nonwhites. >> and the point that you just made is that many times in a new study, it is going to reveal the information and exposes the information that deserves to be researched and delved into, and one of the big questions is why we are seeing this if the numbers are in fact accurate. >> well, so, our numbers are based on satellite data of the pollution, and measurement tools by the environmental protection agency, and land use of air and roads. and so why it is so much more different in some community thans others, and that is an important question. >> and how do you do that?

what is the next step here? if you are a parent, and noticing that your child has asthma, and the first question you ask, especially, and i have done stories on it in minority neighborhoods where the uptick is regarding asthma, and you say why and what can we do about it? >> absolutely. that is important to note. air pollution has improved over time, and if you look since the clean air act was passed over several decades and the air pollution has improved, but we have a ways to go and it is worth celebrating the victory, but acknowledging that many people do want to see cleaner air for the health of themselves, and the families and their kids. >> so what is the next step in understanding the research? >> yeah, so, one thing is to start comparing the cities and the states and at what underlies the difference, and why do we see the large differences amongst the cities in the gap of expose sure of the for example whites and non-whites and the next important step is what can we do about that, and in that front, it would be like if we

were to reduce certain emission sources, how would that change these dispair tis and can we target the emission reductions to the communities that are most exposed. we will look at that next. >> it is fascinating study, and we will see what you uncover x next in the research. thank you so much for joining us. we greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. and up next, the incredible story of a teenager who stowed away for five hours inside of the wheel well of an airplane, and many questions about this. how did he breach the airport security so easily? and how did he survive the other? nbc's pete williams will have the latest on the fbi investigati investigation. and now, con tre ver si to have the first lady to speak at a high school graduation ceremo ceremony, and 2,000 people have signed a petition to reconsider the plans to have her speak. they say that her speech would steal the spotlight from the

students, and they say it is not about politics burk it is about ticket availability, and keeping the attention on the kids. we will look at this story. and the real housewives of atlanta reunion show erupts into a brawl between two of the stars porsche williams and kenya moore, and the brawl led to the hair pulling, and sobbing and criminal charges, and this is going to raise a larger issue about the violence on the reality shows, and particularly when it involves women, and some say black women. we are going to talk to the founder of the blog young, black, fabulous. and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. we put members first. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question

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authorities in hawaii say that they are amazing a 16-year-old boy survived after hitching a ride in the wheel well of a passenger jet from california. the teen endured frigid temperature temperatures and a lack of oxygen at 38,000 feet during the 5 1/2 hour flight. he was found wandering on the airport's tarmac after the jumbo

jet landed in maui. and the fbi is questioning him, and he says he does not remember the flight at all. and nbc's pete williams is going to join us with more on this. and pete, obviously, the first question beyond how did he survive which is a litany of questions there, but how did he get through security? >> well, they say that he hopped a fence at the san jose airport. he is from santa clara, california, which is in the area, and then they say he climbed into the wheel well of what turned out to be hawaiian airlines flight 45 and then he had no idea where the plane was headed. it is a 767 jet that left san jose and then landed in maui five hours later, and then another hour after after that, the witnesses say they saw him hop down from the wheel well, and the authorities say that he was unconscious for most of the flight, and then he was found by the airport workers, and he claims he was in an argument with his family and wanted to run away from home. and the airline says that our

primary concern is for the well-being of the boy who is exceptionally lucky to have survived. he has been given a medical checkup and turned over to the hawaii child welfare department, but the questions that the fbi want wants the know is how he was able to breach airport security in san jose, and am moong them the senator who represents the bay area, and he said, the way this teen has exposed vulnerables that need to be address addressed. >> and it was not long ago, pete, whaen man we-- when a man left a restaurant and then took an exit to go on to the runway. >> well, hopping a fence is pretty simple to do, and it is not a great trade krachlt so they have some explaining to do in san jose about how that

happened, and how they, at the very least, how it was not spotted. >> well, as a person who cannot hop the pence, pete, i'm sorry it is not a trade craft. thank you, pete. >> okay. >> and a high school commencement ceremony in kansas that will feature first lady michelle obama is sparking criticism. she has accepted an invitation to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the brown versus board of education. and last week the school district said in order to accommodate the first lady they would consolidate five separate high school ceremonies into one at a local arena, but now some of the students and parents have said that the first lady's participation will decrease the number of seats for each graduate.

and now they are asking the district to reconsider the plans for the graduation, tants petition now has more than 8,000 signatures, and joining me live is peter alexander, our nbc white house correspondent. so you have 1,000 seniors and 2,000-plus signatures on the website, and do we know if all of the signatures are fromassoc school or can anybody sign it? >> well, that is a good question, tamron, because i don't knee who are the specifics of who can sign that petition, but i just got off of the phone with ron harbaugh who is the spokesman for the topeka school district, and this is the resolution for the time being. 800 graduates, each of whom will be allowed six seats total and compared to unlimited seating, because now as you noted five high schools shrunk into the single event, but he said obviously, there are people who

are upset about this, and very little of it has to do with politics, but more of it with the spacing. mr. harbaugh indicated to me that the thinking is that for a lot of the students certainly, i don't remember who my high school commencement speak e w , was -- speaker was, and these kids should remember who came to speak on that date. and some suggest ha the fired t first lady go to the site of topeka to honor the site where two children did begin the legislation. >> we will see if there is a compromise there to make the kids and the families happy. thank you, pete. and a car smashes into a easter service sunday, and what the driver told the police. it is one of the stories we are following around the

"newsnatio "newsnation." and this -- >> ewith were sort of the other american family who had this horrible curse. >> that is the granddaughter of ernest hemmingway, muriel hemingway. she will talk about her family's propensity to violence and alcohol and much more when she joins me live next. revolutionizing an industry can be a tough act to follow,

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a week eend of deadly gun violence in chicago with a dozen people shot easter weekend alone that. topping the "newsnation" today. the latest shooting in chicago happening last night when someone in a car opened up fire on a group of kids leaving a park. the kids ranged from ages 11 to 15 and one is in critical condition. and fans of country music singer kevin sharp. he rose to stardom with a string

of his songs, and inspired many with the incredible story of surviving rare bone cancer. he died saturday from past stomach surgeries and other issues. and sunday easter service in florida was interrupted when an out of control car wept rignt r into the church. the driver said that her brakes failed when she was pulling into the church parking lot. and oprah winfrey looking at one family's struggle with mental torment and addiction. and that family is the hemingways. muriel is the subject of "running from crazy" in which she explores her troubled family

history. >> when i was young, i would often hike these hills, and i knew that if i didn't get outside, i would just want to cry. my father was the oldest son of ernest hemmingway, and it is like the kennedy family that the kennedys had the horrible tragedies, and we were sort of the other american family with the horrible curse. i come from seven suicides, and perhaps more. >> and muriel joins us, and now, thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> of course. i saw the clip of the documentar documentary, and i think that it was a year ago at a discovery communications and presented in this new documentary that oprah would be showing, and i remember, mural yell stopping in my tracks when you cited the number of suicides in your family alone, and why did you choose to go on this painful journey? >> you know, the truth is that

it is not painful anymore, and i live a wonderful life, and that is part of the message of the film. if we can tell our story, and may not have to make a documentary about it, but if you can tell your story, you can heal. that is part of the message by me telling the story, looking into my family, and looking at the darkness, but also the incredible light and joy and freedom and wonderfulness that this family has, i don't think that wonderfulness is a word, but anyway, i think that it is so important to tell more stories so that we know that we are not alone number one, and the other important thing about the movie being shown is that people will not be feeling like they areal alone. part of mental ill thans is so debilitating is that people feel they cannot be heard and live in darkness and suffer in silence,

so i come from this. it is one of the greatest families in the world, but it is also got its crap so to speak, and so if we all understand that we all are the same, then we can start a dialogue, and then the e healing can begin. the other passion i have is that to show that mental illness is affected by how we live our simple everyday life. whether you get outside in nature or exercise or drink the water, and what food do you eat. all of these things important. >> and i want to show you another clip from the documentary where you talk about the drinking in your family. let's play that. >> my mother and father drank wine every night, and they called it "wine time." always my favorite. after a couple of glasses of wine and the alcohol kicked in, nastiness happens. i would clean up the dinner party, and the blood and the glass. just weird like it is the most normal thing to do like that is

what you did. >> i know that you said, muriel that the pain you dealt with and brighter days and two beautiful children, but what was that like uncover i uncovering some of those details, and what was the reaction of your children? >> well, uncovering the details is just what it is. it is uncomfortable at the time, and now i listen to that, and it is interesting that my parents had something called "wine time" and that is bizarre. and it is from the bad, for my daughters, it is incredible, because when one person in the family decides to the heal or the to change the dynamics where they come from, you can do it. that is the message, if you do it, your children heal. they don't have to carry this on or drudge through their lives worrying that they are going to be crazy or something. they will have the dark days like anybody does, and we all

suffer from the stuff, but understanding the story, and that is really important for a lot of people. >> and lastly, i have to ask you about the title "running from crazy" and do you feel that you were or are running from crazy? >> i feel like i was running from crazy and now i have an amazing and fabulous and very kind of crazy boyfriend and so now i am running with crazy. >> and beyonce has a song "crazy in love" and so it all goes back to that. and muriel, we have to hang out one day, because i love you, and thank you so much, and thank you so much on the documentary. >> thank you. and now a teenager is now suspended from school because he asked miss america for the prom. the story is not that simple. i talked with him on the "today" show about his punishment. >> this is like now or never type thing, and once in a lifetime challenge, and i didn't

expect this. >> and doesn't he look like fred armisen? well, did he deserve the suspension? and the magnificent mug shot of portia where there was a brawl on the "housewives" reunion show. and the blog of the black, young, fabulous will join me with the reaction to the reality brawl. 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.

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cadmium, mercury, lead. all on the periodic table. all inside these, too. now the last thing we want is for all that to mix with water. so recycle. you'll keep your planet clean, t-m-y-k. there's a lot going on today and here are some things that a we thought that you should know. >> ready, get set -- >> the white house easter egg roll is under way, and some 30,000 people pack ed the south lawn for this year's event. the theme is "hop into healthy. spring into shape." it is much more than just an egg roll. the kids and the parents get to take part in live music,

storytelling, sports, and pretty fun but not more fun than the easter egg hunt i had in north philly.blumenthal, take a look. >> whoa. >> yes, oh, ironically this happened during a news conference about commuter train safety. the train came terrifyingly close to the senator as he was standing on the platform, almost knocked over the sign. those are things we thought you should know. time for the "news nation" gut check, a high school senior facing suspension after asking miss america to go to the prom with him -- >> excuse me, students aren't allowed -- >> will you go to the prom with me? [ applause ]

>> thank you. >> the school warned patrick not to go forward with it but he did it anyway, so the administration ga gave him three days of in school suspension. it has gotten lots of attention with people saying the school overreacted. this morning on the "today" show, i asked patrick if he was prepared to do the time for not owe baying officials. >> when they told me not to do it and i thought it was a now or never -- once in a lifetime chance. >> to be suspended? >> i'm kidding. to ask her to prom. i did it anyway and i knew i would get in some type of trouble. i completely understand and respect the disciplinary actions that had to be taken. >> miss america has graciously said no. she actually said she's busy and she actually also wants the school to let him back in. she didn't see it as anything harmless. what does your gut tell you.

do you think the student should have been suspended for asking miss america out to prom. he was suspended for asking her after school officials told him not to disrupt that assembly. go to newsnation.msnbc.com to cast your vote. friday's gut check, we asked should schools have dress codes for parents picking up kids. it was a close one. 49% of you said yes, parents should have a dress code. 51% of you pajama wearing cut-off short wearing parents said no. we've been hearing about this epic fight of the "real housewives housewives atlanta we saw it and it was scary. armed with a mega phone and a royal septer in hand. >> i will [ bleep ] you up. get back. >> no, no.

>> no. >> kenya said she's -- she goes or i go while portia broke down into tears apologizing to her cast mates. >> i can't believe i did that. i can't believe i did that. >> portia, portia. >> i'm so embarrassed. >> portia. >> so embarrassed. >> it's going to be all right. >> kenya called the cops and portia turned herself. larger question of what's going on and joining me natasha u banks, founder of young, black and fabulous, pop culture website online. last night, even though i was tired, i stayed up and watched this and i started crying. i did. because i felt like when you see someone on the ground saying i can't believe i embarrassed myself, you see a lot of these fights, maybe the turning of the

table and you feel like they are stunts. i felt like i was watching someone who had been bullied and couldn't take it anymore. >> i'm so glad you brought up the word bullied. you may not realize for the 50 minutes before that, in her face, portia's face for 50 minutes was a mega phone being yelled at her obscene words in her face, a septor being pointed at her face. she asked bravo, please make her stop. no one stepped in. at what point does a woman have to be able to defend herself. she -- i think she was upset with how she responded but at the same time she had no other option. >> listen, no one condones and violence and maybe the other option would have been to walk offset. that's a part of it. but i felt like when i was watching it again, i literally burst into tears and i don't cry often. but it was frustrating to see if this is real, and i believe it

is, that kind of behavior amongst women. >> i'm not the biggest portia williams fan but this is the one time and i mean one time where i am on her side. throughout the entire season she was being provoked and people use that word a lot, provoked. >> kenya moore accused her. she was married to cordel. >> accused of treating on him. >> all sort of awful things. >> it was almost a buildup and she explained it to andy cohen who acted concerned and said you need to go home. this is a buildup, i just filed for divorce recently and just finalized things a couple of weeks ago i've been bullied by these men, mainly kenya moore. this is the one and only time i feel for a realty star. >> he was trying to say we can't condone violence here and there's been plenty of violence on not just the "housewives of

atlanta", jersey. >> never asked to go home. >> when you threaten someone and say i'm going to kill them, to me that is violence. nevertheless, the larger conversation is it seems there's a concern, wendy williams and other people discussed whether or not in this case african-american women are viewed in this volatile angry black woman ready to yank your hair portrayal. what are your people saying online? >> people are very upset about the constant portrayal. it's constant. that's what people don't like. >> and not exclusive to this show. >> not exclusive. but it is exclusive to black women as a certain issue. a lot of people get upset with only black woman being portray the a certain way and you can argue, did bravo set this up and allow these problems in order to incite the riot of the black woman fighting on television? there's a lot there but also like you said, the jersey housewives, theresa has gotten up in andy's face and wasn't asked to go home. >> andy seemed sincere. his reaction was there's a larger question here, you go on a realty show and it was

spoedsed to be about a glamorous life and now assault charges. >> and who assaulted first, that's the question. >> it's pretty bad, i have to say. >> it's a sad situation but hopefully they get past it. >> thank you so much for coming on. that does it for "news nation." up next, "andrea mitchell reports." are you ready grandma? just a second, sweetie. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®.

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so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. and go to premarinvaginalcream.com this is worth talking about. 8 we had friends in the finish line so we're running for them. >> no hesitation at all. we're excited to be back. we're not going to be intimidated or back down from doing what we love. >> wanting to come back here and do something really positive and show the world that boston is amazing and strong. >> right now an "andrea mitchell reports," patriot's day, one year after the boston marathon was stopped short in tragedy, runners are writing a new