its resillancy as thousands of runners cross the finish line at the 118th boston marathon. leading the pack, an american. the first american to win this race, this historic race, since 1983. it's a win that undoubtedly will be considered even more meaningful for a city that considers itself america's birthplace. a city determined to show the world it's stronger than ever after last year's bombing. >> as vice president biden said yesterday, we're taking back the finish line. so many runners are going to be crossing that finish line that didn't get a chance to cross it last year. there are going to be so many great stories crossing that line. >> before the race began, four victims and hundreds of those injured in last year's bomb attack were honored during a moment of silence. today's record crowd of 36,000 took off many their 26.2 mile trek in several waves. many of them racing for a finish line they never got to see last we're. >> as a runner, i guess, and

after what happened you just feel like it's not -- >> the whole country coming together and standing up and saying, you know, we're going to run regardless. >> we both go to northeastern, and we had some friends at the finish line last year, so we're running for them. >> we want to kind of show them, you know, we're not going to be intimidated or back down from doing what we love. >> while something like 750 national guardsmen are working on the ground at today's's, security was also on display in the air. the massachusetts national guard was flying over the entire course. right now both governor duvall patrick and u.s. secretary of homeland security jay swron son are greeting runners at the finish line, and earlier they spoke at a news conference where they stress safety and vigilance. >> one of the things we routinely remind the public to do, if you see something, say something. >> the public should be assured that every conceivable preparation has been done to

insure that we have a safe race today, and that we have struck the right balance so that it is both safe and also the family-friendly event that we have all come to expect and love about the boston marathon. >> tonight runners will celebrate at fenway park with the official post-race party happening. at last night's red sox-orioles game victims, police officials, and survivors got a heroes welcome as they walk on to the field. with that we turn it over to nbc news correspondent ron mott in boston just blocks away from the finish line. take it away. what's the mood there in boston? >> hey there. well, i think folks are ready to party, joye, to be honest with you. it's been a great day so far. i mean, the weather is phenomenal. you couldn't have asked for better conditions for a marathon today, and a lot of these racers have now finished the race. something they dreamed about all their lives in some cases and certainly after what we saw happen last year. i can tell you, you mentioned security. security is very veshgs tight. in fact, many the past hour or so a boston police essentially shut down some of the checkpoints around the finish

line. there are so many people there, and they're referring to people who wanted to try to get close to the racecourse to go further to the west over towards kenmore square. there's no more traffic coming into that finish area. now, of course, last year, unfortunately, we saw in the 2:00 hour, los to 3:00, ten minutes until 3:00 when the explosions set off last year. this year i think a lot of folks feel like it's much safer because of the checkpoints that were not here last we're. i spent some time this morning with the new police commissioner, hills an avid runner. he has run 18 of the marathons. today he is in a suit and tie because his position has changed, and he is taking this personally to make sure this event goes off without a hitch. take a look at my conversation from earlier. >> technology-wise, we're using all the latest technology. we have a lot more cameras out there. the key we've had this year, that we didn't do in previous years, is we have a lot more undercover officers that will be working in the crowd, in the public. if they see something, say something. we have a lot of tactical assets

out there. we have a lot of, you know -- the long guns. we got all that. we don't want that out on display. that's not what marathons are all about. that's not what the city of boston is all about. >> all right. joy, as you mentioned, the american male won this race today. the first american male to win this race in 31 years. that's a big deal. the kenyan won again today. she won last year as well. these two guys next to me have won in many ways as well. we have scott and tyler johnson. scott is from -- >> fort kol linz, colorado. >> me sfwl oullah, montana. >> the western states are being represented here. how important was it for you to be here today? >> i was here last year supporting hi wife who ran, and she finished 17 minutes before the explosions and right then and there i decided i wanted to come back this year and make it a positive experience, which i have done. i'm really happy. >> and you finished? >> yes. >> your time.

>> 3:19, thanks. >> again, it's an amazing feat to finish one of these. tooerl, how did you do? >> i ran three flat. >> three flat. tell me why was it important for you to be here? >> i watched last year like everybody else --s and i got really inspired by everybody in boston coming over here, and i hadn't ran a marathon in about five years, and i wanted to make a point of qualifying and coming here and telling everybody that we're still here and you really can't mess with an event like this. >> how concerned were you guys about the safety of the event today? >> not even in the slightest. >> not at all. not at all. everything felt very secure and safe. >> i trust -- i don't know how you're still standing after running so far today, but i trust you guys are going to celebrate tonight? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> absolutely. >> it's great to see you. congrats. again, it's a great event today. the oldest marathon in the world. today it's lig up to its standing as one of the most prestigious on the planet. joy, back to you. >> ron, obviously the security is very tight, and both of those

guys said they feel completely safe. is that really sort of part of the comeback for boston here, that people really were able to run despite the over abundance of security and the feeling among people running was that it was a free and open city and that the marathon is sort of back to the way it was? >> right. exactly. this was a statement for a lot of people, joy. they intended to come out today to send a message around the world that this city is not just boston strong, but stronger in so many ways than it was last year. there's a lot of life-long friendship advisory that be formed over the past 53 weeks and today was a day about the marathon itself. we've had our tributes over the past week or so to remember the four people who were lost. three here at the race, and then the m. i.t. police officer. we've gone through that, and today everyone wants this to be about the race itself. this is a qualifying race, so this is just not runners who showed up in their running shorts and shoes and say i'm going to run the boston marathon. you have to qualify. you have to be a pretty good runtory qualify for this race. i looked at the qualifying times, joy. you've fwot to be pretty good to get to the boston marathon.

it's a very special race that way, and it looks like the night is going to be quite a festive all around town, as you mentioned, starting at fenway park and then over to the house of blues where they'll close it down, as they say. >> i was going to ask you why you didn't appear to be dressed appropriately, but you just now got away from that notion saying how difficult it was to qualify. you really weren't dressed to run, but you can still go to the house of blues, which sounds like fun. >> i may be there. that's where i may be. >> i'm officially jealous. ron mott, live in boston. thanks, man. all right. up next, a big u.s. delegation led by joe biden has just arrived in ukraine. the cavalry has arrived, but will they be able to stop russia wra from grabbing more of ukraine's territory? sfwlimplgts then a big move from eric holder's justice department that's already being called a major victory for the attorney general. it's coming up. if you've got copd like me... ...hey breathing's hard. know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

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as president obama preps for a major tour of asia, there's a strategy to check the rise in china. it's vlad putin and his design on ukraine that's proving to be the biggest short-term problem for the white house. vice president joe biden began a two-day visit to ukraine where he will meet with u.s. officials and a congressional delegation and later with ukrainian leaders. while is he in use crane, the vice president is expected to unveil an aid package, and more importantly, to have some face time with members of the government there to demonstrate the administration's support. a tentative deal struck by the u.s., russia, and ukraine on thursday already seems to be on the verge of unraveling. particularly after a firefight at a checkpoint outside one eastern city. in ukraine that left at least three people dead. pro-russian and pro-ukrainian orsz have offered conflicting reports on who is to mram. the former said they were attacked by far right nationals, but the group said that russia wra is one who staged the

attack. now, regardless of who did what to whom with ukrainian elections just about a month away, vladimir putin seems set to press ahead with whatever advantage he can get to bolster russian influence over its neighbors. st russia flounss it plans to make it ease wrer for russian speakers in former soviet republics to gain russian citizenship. meanwhile, the pentagon this week is expected to announce military drills in poland as well as the former soviet republic of estonia. david rode is an investigative reporters for reuters who has twice won the pulitzer prize, and michael hamlin, a fellow at the brookings institute. both have recently written on the crisis for "atlantic" and foreign affairs respectively. i'm going to start with you, david, here at the table. what is the status of that deal that reached great fanfare last week on ukraine? >> it seems to be slowly unraveling. there was a checkpoint. that was a bad sign. i think we'll never know who carried it out. clearly the pro-russian groups

are not abandoning the buildings they've taken over, and they're basically flaunting, you know, the u.s. and biden's visit saying force us out of these blz. so it's dangerous situation. >> michael, i mean, you are one person who has written advocating that perhaps the united states actually should send a life force to the region, sort of a show of force to try to back russia down. now that you see that there are these military exercises taking place in the region, a, is that a smart idea? are they doing what you suggest they do? b, what would be the next step after that? >> well, my recommendation is very specific. it's not meant to try to send forces to ukraine or to try to militarily coerce putin into undoing anything he has already done or might do. it was designed simply to shore up our nato allies, so if we see a russian incursion at the eastern ukraine of a major nature, not this limited thing that's happening now, but a more substantial perhaps even blatant invasion. at that point i would favor small numbers, modest numbers,

of american and other nato ground forces being permanently stationed in the baltic countries and elsewhere too. perhaps poland or romania. really just as a reaffirmation of our deterrent of the strengthening of the message that if you come into these countries, it makes and means war with the united states. a very simple message of reassurance and deterence. not one of coercion. it's designed to try to undo what we're seeing right now, but how to handle this scenario if it gets worse. >> would vladimir putin respond to a message of deterrence? he doesn't seem to be responding to the threat of isolation. what would the result of your mind cover the region of that kind of a deterrence even be? >> it's dangerous because if you challenge him militarily, you know, he might want to respond militarily. this move that he has done ukraine and crimea has given him record approval numbers inside

russia. he is playing the national's cords, and the problem on the side of the united states is that president obama is being called weak by republicans. they're going into crucial senate race this is fall. there are mixed signal from the white house. they don't want to let russia define the remainder of obama's presidency, but this administration needs a strategy. are they going to contain putin or confront him? are they going to ignore him? we're not hearing that very clearly from the white house. >> you are hearing, michael, this really big drumbeat on the right to try to reinforce this idea that the president's response has been -- i want to play you some sound. david brooks, not the fiercest critic usually of the white house, but take a listen to what he said about the white house's handling of ukraine. >> let's face it. obama, whether deservedly or not, does have a problem in the middle east. is he tough enough to stand up? i think a lot of it's unfair. certainly in the bhooes there's an assumption he is not tough

enough. >> by the way -- >> meeblg, even going there as far as the u.s. handling of the situation, a, is that helpful at all to have this sort of constant drumbeat that the president is too weak, but not a solution on the table really coming even from republicans. there doesn't seem to be a solid idea coming from the right as to what could be done that would make more sense. >> i agree with what you just said. >> george bush was president in fwait 2008. another soviet republic was acting in a way that putin didn't like. even the very, you know, tough guy george bush who at that point in his presidency have waged the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he was not able to prevent putin

from doing this because georgia, like ukraine, is not a member of nato. it's far lowers to russia than it is to our territory, and putin can make a certain semi-plausible claim to have certain special rights there. i'm not endorsing what he has done. don't get me wrong. when you actually ask the question do we have military options that make any sense in either georgia or ukraine, i think the answer is no. i think all we can do in regard to ukraine, what we should do in regard to ukraine is make it clear to putin that if he goes into eastern ukraine in a blatant military way, there will be major lasting sanctions. that will mean that putin has to choose between economic growth in russia and slicing off part of ukraine for annexation. he has to make that fund mayor-elects choice. it will be his choice. >> i think that probably is what is so frus rating about this conversation that we're having on this side of the ocean that the idea that we need to project this sense of strength in order to deter russia.

that is what was done of bush administration. the talk of satellites going into nature i don't. the kind of bluster coming from bush, and looking into putin's eyes and seeing a soul. what do you make of that critique, and how does the bush era tie into what we're dealing with now? >> i mean, it very much does totally impact president obama's options. the bottom line here is the american people do not want to go to war in ukraine. they don't want to go to war in syria. it's a hangover from iraq and afghanistan. that does limit obama's hand. i do think that the white house would do a better job on this idea of economic sanctions. this is a defining tool of obama's presidency, of the 21st century and interconnected global economy. we have eliminated by about one-third of the oel sales.

they have economic growth and help him run an authority takive government. he should know that it could impact his hold on power. that's the key. >> isn't that -- isn't it a point that if sakes were really -- you know, putin is getting the short-term bump internally. he is getting some internal bump out of this. that is really for his own public's consumption, this image of russia wra being reborn and russia being strong again. should the united states rachet up the sanctions to make him pay an economic cost inside the country? is that the way to go? >> well, i think the answer will be yes if he moves into eastern ukraine. >> you can make an argument. i don't expect it, but you can talk about why russia had a special interest in crimea, and what putin did there was an abomination. in the scheme of things it's not affecting your security or mine or our economic prosperity, and didn't even kill crimeams. there were very few casualties of any of that, and so i think we had to make him pay a price. we also needed to signal that if

he escalated, that's when the price would really get unbearable. the important thing is to get him to stop at this point. i don't like what he did in crimea. it does affect my long-term willingness as an american to think we should deal with him loefl. we can basically tolerate it and ride it out as long as it doesn't go a lot further. the key thing now is to send a clear message. mr. putin, this can get a whole lot worse. don't force us to go there. >> yeah, absolutely. very smart information. >> quick update where the actions of some crew members on that ferry that sunk with hundreds of people on board, tanta mount to murder. 86 people are confirmed dead as divers continue to search inside the sunken ferry. 220 people are still missing, and presumed dead. the ferry's captain and six crew members have been arrested for negligence. south korea's president is accusing the captain of telling passengers to stay put while he and other crew members escape

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coming up, we read between the lines on how members of the supreme court are courting a whole lot of controversy. but, first, it's time for we the tweeple and a story you can't stop buzzing about on social media. many of you remember ruben "hurricane" carter. he gained a whole new level of fame when denzel washington portrayed him in a biopick about his life in the year 2000. he became a cult figure when his boxing career was cut short in 19 after a unlawful murder conviction. for 19 years advocates fought for his release, including bob dillon, who wrote a song supporting carter's cause. it was 1985 release ruben carter continued to fight to exonerate the innocent, which is why he is being honored today by admirers like mike tyson who said we lost a great man today. ruben "hurricane" carter. the boxer was wrongfully accused

and became a symbol for racial injustice. he died in toronto on subpoenaed. he was 76. now the amazing case of a young stowaway. this is a picture of maui news from a 16-year-old boy who authorities say hitched a ride from california to hawaii hiding in the wheel well of a plane. he reportedly limed over a fence at san jose airport after running away from home and lost consciousness during the five-hour flight at 38,000 feet in subzero temperatures and with little oxygen. incredibly the teen emerged unharmed and police are considering whether he will face charges. unlike this reckless youth, uh-huh, justin bieber, yep, we went there. the biebs faces dui charges in miami and it's prompted many of you to sign a white house.gov petition to have hem deported back to canada. more than 270,000 of you have signed since january, but the white house took this moment to comment on emgregs reform instead.

in its official response which reads, in part, "we'll leave it to others to comment on mr. bieber's case, but we're glad you care about immigration issues. because our system is broken. too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers, and 11 million people are living in the shadows." well played by the obama administration. reform is hot on the hill right now. you can join in this conversation on twitter, facebook, instagram, and msnbc.com, and keep telling us what is important to you. and now this news. here are three things you didn't know about the white house easter egg roll. [ man #1 ] we're now in the approach phase, everything looking good.

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just a few hours ago attorney general eric holder announced major new step in the obama administration's focus on reforming what many believe are unfair federal sentencing guidelines in the war on drugs. in a video statement holder said his justice department would soon detail new expansive criteria to be used when considering clemency for federal drug sentences. the move is the just the latest for an attorney general who has said he wants to be smart rather than tough on crime. last december the obama administration commuted the sentences of eight individuals convicted of crack cocaine offenses and four years ago it helped push for the passage of a fair sentencing act which greatly reduced the disparity in sentences for offenses involving powder versus crack cocaine. two of my msnbc colleagues, ari melber, and managing editor of msnbc digital. guys, this is a huge announcement. i want to get you guys to first spell out sort of what is new,

what is different. i'll start with you, ari. what has changed as of today? >> i think what's changed as of today is we're seeing a continuation of this administration's desire to look backwards in the war on drugs. these commutations are all about people who are already in jail. you just mentioned the fair sentencing act which reduced the crack cocaine disparity, which is a source of tremendous racial enjustice, and a change, by the way, that many republicans in congress even supported. it was seen as so bad. >> wills almost 200,000 federal inmates. held in federal prison. about half of them on drug crimes. we're talking about tens of thousands of people some of whom could now petition for clemency. >> for me one of the biggest changes i see here is just an

acknowledgment finally from the administration, a public acknowledgment. there's been one internally for a long time. just the culture of the pardon's office, and clearly now is a desire from the white house to expand the field of lawyers that will be looking for people who should have their sentences commuted. no longer relying on the attorney. ronald rogers current pardon attorney, part of the process for the white house is to have hem exit that job, which i think is very, very important sign. >> you have written a lot about ronltd roberts because the clarence aarons case because people should know about from reading msnbc.com, and tee subscribe briefly this case and why rogers became such a hot button as a result. >> sure. eric holder today, and in his comments, highlighted this case, the fact this they released clarence aaron from prison in december, one of the eight people the president chose who was serving an absurdly long sentence. first-time drug offender.

he had -- testifies a great case for clemency. tried on get clemency at the end of the bush administration, and ronald roberts prevented him from getting this pardon, even though the white house was eager to see his release. effectively kept information from the president in order to prevent clairon arnz -- it's an example of the kinds of cases the pardon office tried to prevent. i think making changes there, bringing in new staff attorneys, it sounds like they're going to restaff that office. i was at an event last week where obama's lawyer, white house counsel catherine talked about bringing in new staff attorneys into that office. i think all of that will help to not only change the culture, but really kind of get to the kinds of cases that the president and the attorney general want to see. >> right. one of the issues here, ari, is this issue of mandatory minimums.

it's really coming as a result of mandatory mandatory sentencing. is it this change in policy impact mandatory minimums at least at the federal level? >> what it does is provide a way to look at cases that have gone too far. you mentioned the report today which looks at the story of a young woman who is 27 years old. she got caught up selling a few grams of meth and got a 30-year mandatory minimum pull sentence. on a case by case basis, yes, you can look at had and say why was she in for so long, and is that right and judicious. you need the congress to come together. there are these reforms, including the smarter sentencing act, that would deal with reducing mandatory minimums. it come at a time when we have tremendous shifts. we look at basically decriminalized pot in many states. 20% of the drug jailings last year were still of pot. we have this tremendous change in this country, and celebrating on the one hand. we need congress to come in and harmonize some of this. unless we want to spend more to

incarcerate people for pot convictions than we can spend educating them in college. that's the choice we have. >> this is one of the rather instances where you actually have even some conservative republicans, people like rand paul who actually agree on this issue. this potentially -- is this one of those rare issues that could actually even get traction in congress? >> i think so. i know that for presidents in the past, things like letting people out of prison early, pardoning people has always come with that political risk, and i think that what the administration has done here is really seen that, many of the, the risk is not that great. >> just briefly, you always ask me what's my favorite part of the 2012 republican platform. it's something you skp me every time. >> every day. >> i sigh in the makeup room.

there is a section in that platform that everyone should read that talks about the over criminalization of a behavior in american life, and that's what we're talking about here. not that people who do bad things belong in prison. many do. that we have a failed federal war on drugs that takes private conduct or a little thought and turns that into a life-long crime or a life-long life of crime, which isn't what we want, and that's i think one of the -- well, one of the only parts of that platform that i can get down with, but it speaks to the bipartisanship. >> it wouldn't be right to have ari on this very set. >> appreciate it. >> without acknowledging that you actually interviewed eric holder on this very issue, among many others. i want to play a little bit of that interview because this talks really about eric holder's own personal investment in this issue. take a listen. >> the war on drugs going too far with regard to some of the sentences that congress mandated, and i think we have a moment in time where congress as well as those of us many the

executive branch to pull back just a bit. so i think that -- i hope that will be a part of the legacy. >> this is an active us attorney general in a lot of ways, but this is actually one way in which he can actually enact this change without really having to deal with the congress, but in a sense without congress fighting him either. >> right. i think that's right. i think it's finding part of his leg as where i and of the obama administration. i thought it was transcribinging that at the state of the wrun there was a lot of reference to executive action. they didn't sell this for some of the political reasons. they're doing it. they're practicing it. sometimes even without preach it as much. >> absolutely. in the overall scope of things, how dramatic could this wind up being in terms of actual implementation? would it surprise you a we're from now to find out fewer than 1,000, very few people that took advantage of this, or do you expect attorneys to be very aggressive about attempting to apply for clemency on the new policy? >> i think there will be many, many, many more people.

i think that's going to be part of the legacy. i think they will let people out of prison who won't be out of prison, and i think they do not want to be part of this sense that america's addictive amount of kaeshs. i do believe -- >> the great ari, gracing us with your sprens today. you can, of course, watch ari right after this show on "the cycle." >> call it a lead-in. >> don't call it a lead-in. sfloop. >> don't call it a comeback. he has been here for years. graduation backlash. why some kansas high schoolers don't want first lady michelle obama to speak on their special day. you got the bargain kind?

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♪ we're all type e ♪ >> first lady of the united states, michelle obama. >> thank you. oh, my goodness. thank you so much. oh, my goodness. >> that was last year's commencement ceremony at buoy state university. first lady michelle obama got a rouzing welcome, as you can see, as the featured speaker, and she also received an honor rather agree that day. this year the first lady is scheduled to speak to graduating seniors on three different occasions, but it's her planned speech to high school students in topeka, kansas, that's sparking controversy. that speech has been to commemorate the 60th anniversary

of the supreme court's landmark brown v board of education decision, which led to the desegregation of american schools. more than 2,000 people, some of whom aren't even from kansas, have signed a petition asking the school district to reconsider mrs. obama's visit. they say it's not about politics. it's about -- each family will get only six tickets when they used to get as many as they wanted. they say mrs. obama's appearance could take the focus off the students and their achievement. >> families should be there. that's special. especially the people that have supported you all these school years. you know, i think that this doesn't make it special. >> district spokesman ron harbough says officials are sticking by the decision, adding, "these kids will always remember who their graduation speaker was." the first lady's speech is just one of several controversial commencement invitations this year. some faculty members at rutgers university don't want secretary

of state condoleezza rice. howard drop-out, diddy, aka sean combs, for the may 17th graduation ceremony. over at harvard there were calls to disinvite former new york mayor michael bloomberg from the may 29th commencement because of his administration's stop and frisk policy and its secret spying operation. all that and commencement season hasn't really even gotten underway. malika henderson. >> nice to be here. snoo who would have thought that a commencement speech would be at all political, right? that the actual people protesting this assignment -- they say this isn't about politics, the michelle obama situation really is more about space. aren't commencement speeches in some ways inherently a little bit political? >>. >> do we have audio?

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>> we have rescued nia malika from the vortex. welcome you back, my friend. you have made it back. real quibble, the idea of a xhebsment speech being political, tell us a little bit about that. >> they rarely are. certainly if you are talking specifically about michelle obama, sther, but irthink when you have figures like bloomberg, for instance, even giuliani, when he spoke, they do become political. let's remember, college campuses have historically been hotbeds of political activity, right? that continues to this day. i think when you have these high profile speakers, college students sort of piggy ban on that to make a larger political point. i think with the michelle obama thing, it's a little different because they are concerned more about space. what i do think you might have people viewing it as political,

and people who are protesting not from can cab, not even affected by this who are trying to to say sort of keep the first lady and her politics away from our kids. >> they are just like you can't win. if you get somebody on the left, people in the right are mad. if it's on the right, people on the left are mad. wills no way to win, and you could wind up with security issues, et cetera, to go with it. >> exactly. this graduation, michelle obama, is going to be six hours as opposed twor three. there are some concern about that. i think the way you win is to get somebody like kermit the frog. yeah, that's what you do. diddy, of course, sparking some controversy there. i don't know if it's more because he didn't graduate or because he represents the shiny

suit era of hip-hop. it's hard to say why folks are protesting that. it will be interesting to see what you -- >> put your rollies in the air. >> in reality, i understand if you are -- you actually have a tried and true lift of commencement speakers. >> kermy is on that list. any sort of high profeel actors. i they angelina jolie, she would be on the list. oprah winfrey, who can sort of. >> biden will be giving an address in south carolina.

>> everybody loves joe biden. >> joe, right. >> topeka, kansas, brown v board education. one of the things it sparked was the integration of college campuses. there was really a push to integrate college campuses. is there a sense that maybe these families just really want to have their day and not have that full weight of history bearing down on them? >> i think that is part of it. if you look at the websites down in topeka, kansas, some people are talking about that. this idea that why do we have to keep reliving this bad history from topeka, kansas. they were the board v education. they want to make this about their day, their kids, and their day, and not about the first lady. do i remember who my high school graduation speaker is or who my college speaker was. i think with michelle obama these kids will certainly remember it, and the white house is still scheduling this. they're looking to see if everything is going to be clear

on the kansas city, topeka kansas, and it looks like they figure that out down there. he said the seat majority actually is really happy about this and that he has gotten a lot of positive response. i imagine it will go off without a hitch. >> niamalika henderson, thank you very much. >> now let's read between the lines. >> retired supreme court justice john paul was asked whether he considered the political consequences of his absence before decide whethering to retire. stevens said no. when asked of any justices should take politics into account when it comes to

retirement, he said this. >> i think so. not only in this job by just finishing reading the book by former secretary gates. he thought a lot about his successor in his job too. you're interested in the job and the kind of work he has done. you have to have an interest in who is going to fill your shoes. >> the question is relevant. some liberals worry if ruth bait bait bait baiter ginsburg. should ginsburg, or any judges for that matter, take politics into account when deciding whether it's time to retire? i mean, it's not as many politics doesn't come through intoou play when justices are sitting on the court. we have on the supreme court right now some very political

justices, indeed. >> racial entitlements guy recently told students at the university of tennessee law school, while answering a question about the constitutionality of the income tax that while tacks are permitted by the constitution if they ever got too high "perhaps you should revolt." scalia used that tea party style rhetoric at a time when nevada rancher cliven bundy is revolting against paying 20 years of federal grazing fees with the help of a well armed malish wra and while claiming he doesn't even recognize the authority of the federal government. scalia is not even the most political justice on the court. his colleague and judicial wonder twin clarence thomas is is it married to a tea party leader, swrimy thomas, who type

ofly organized against the affordable care act attempt her husband was helping to decide the constitutionality of the law. justice stevens himself wrote the majority opinion in that 1997 case that allowed paula jones to oppose president clinton. he joined justice ginsburg and two other justices in december in perhaps the most famously political supreme court justice -- the supreme court decision in a generation. bush v gore. the same year that sandia day o'connor reportedly told friends she wanted to be sure she retired under a republican. yes, when the justices retire, it matters because the court is totally political. and that wraps things up for the reid report. i'll send you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern, and be sure to visit us on-line at the reader report.msnbc.com. the cycle is up next. hey, cycle it'ses. hey, one of i feel like i just saw. >> i wonder which one. any time you can mention them on any of these shows, it's a good

thing. we're going to have a great show today. russell semons is going to be talking about meditation. boston marathon, some politics, and, you know, i hear that the guys at northwestern need a little encouragement before their vote to unionize on friday. going to try to give them a little pump up that they need. it's blue day on the cycle, joy. >> indeed. everybody is looking great. shall i say with regard to russell simmons. the cycle comes up next. to up? i tell people it's for the climate. the conditions in new york state are great for business. new york is ranked #2 in the nation for new private sector job creation. and now it's even better because they've introduced startup new york - dozens of tax-free zones where businesses pay no taxes for ten years. you'll get a warm welcome in the new new york. see if your business qualifies at startupny.com

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now? >> and in the new cycle, new details on the incredible stow-away story. a teen luckily to be alive and in paradise. what led a california teenager to hitch a ride in the airline es's jet wheel all the way to hawaii. the markets are up on wall street irnkz news, but do you know your worth? there's a new test helping women take stock on their true value. i'm krystal ball, and we'll tell you why overconfidence pays. >> indeed. after all that a little quiet talk. russell simmons is going to teach us how to meditate. that is happening. >> the courage, strength, resilience we've seen the past year. please join us in a moment of si