it's not just michigan. seven other states have voter approved bans on affirmative action. today justice anthony kennedy wrote this. it is demeaning to the democratic process to presume that voters are not capable of deciding an issue of this sensitivity on decent and rational grounds." the disenting opinion was written by justice sonja sodameyer in the role affirmative action played if her cakes. she writes that the stark reality is race still matters. the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race and to apply the constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate affects of centuries of racial discrimination. we ought not sit back and wish away rather than confront racial inequality that exists in our society. reverend al sharpton of our own msnbc wrote this response. "the ramifications of this will be far reaching and could tie us up in endless battles. we must mobilize immediately." nbc's justice correspondent pete

williams is live at the supreme court. so, pete, first of all, we know the split here was -2 with justice kate in recusing herself because of her work in the justice department, but talk a little bit about this ruling and what it actually means beyond the specifics of michigan. >> sorry for the umbrella. sudden rainstorm here at the supreme court today. what the decision itself means -- the supreme court seems to go out of its way to say that this has nothing to do with it is merits of whether states can have affirmative action, but what civil rights groups are worried about is that this will be a green light to other states, seven states have done what michigan has done here banning affirmative action, that this could be a green light to other states now to say, well, the supreme court says if we ban it by constitutional amendment, that's okay. so that's what the concern is, and opponents of affirmative action say that they hope that's what the effect of it is. politically where other states are going to go is as good as anybody's guess is as good as mine. university of text technical has

struggled with this. you may recall the supreme court ruled in a case from texas last year upholing affirmative action and making it a little harder for states to justify it, so that's really where it stands. it's a very passionate defense -- disent, as you know, from justice sotomeyor, but that just got two votes today. >> can you talk about this ruling among the majority? >> sure. >> there is this argument that if you allow voters to decide whether or not they want to continue to remedy past discrimination, by and large voters are going to say no, that they would rather not to it because you don't have a majority in these states that have suffered that kind of discrimination, so how was it justified that states would be allowed to go ahead and put aside these kinds of remedies when they don't have to, for instance, put aside things like legacy admissions? >> well, what the court said today is that that whole theory of political restructuring, which is what it's called, what you just said, that you have to jump over a higher hurdle to

change the constitutional amendment, that the problem with that is that it assumes that members of a racial minority or any minority segment of the population will have the same view on that issue, and they said that's an improper thing to do and that there's no constitutional reason to take an issue like that away from the voters. that it's not unconstitutional discrimination to let the voters make those decisions. >> and, pete, i'm curious whether any of the justices that were in the majority made a similar argument than was made, for instance, on the issue of getting rid of the voting rights act, where it was said essentially that that discrimination has sort of passed and that that is in the past and, therefore, these remedies are sort of arcane? was there any of that involved in the majority decision? is. >> no. it really dealt with -- i must say, from the day that this case was argued back in october, today's decision -- today's outcome seemed obvious then, that this theory of -- this political restructuring theory

was just not going over here. it just didn't carry the day. it was an interesting argument to try to get advance on affirmative action, but it was clear from the clay that it argued that it wasn't going to carry the day. the only surprise about this decision is why it took so long to get here. one clue comes into fact that there are so many different concurring opinions here. so many justices write in different ways about it. the outcome seemed obvious for months. >> all right. well, nbc's pete williams, invaluable on issues like this at the supreme court. thank you very much. stay dry. >> you bet. all right. there's another case getting supreme court attention today as well, and this one could change the way you watch tv. justices heard oral arguments in a case against ario, a start-up web-based tv start-up that brings an antenna. the cost to you and cities where it's available is less than $10 a month. nbc universal, the parent of msnbc, is one of the companies that's fighting arrow in aereo

in the supreme court case. >> in and ways it's like the difference between a car dealer and a valet parking service. one of them provides cars to the public. the other simply provides your car back to you and provides a parking service. >> now, here's why this is such a big deal. federal law requires that anyone rebroadcasting a so-called public performance, such as your favorite news or local tv show, is required to pay copyright fees. those fees add up to about $4 billion for the broadcast tv networks just this year alone. joining me now from washington to discuss this is amy the tech policy reporter for recode. i want to start by playing you paul clement, the counsel for the networks. let me get your response on the other side. >> what's at stake in this case is really the nature of broadcast television as we know it because if a company like aereo can somehow provide

content to lots of paying strangers without engaged in a public performance, i think the networks, at least some of them, will have to rethink the way that they provide content. >> so, amy, how would they have to rethink the way they provide content and why? >> i think paul clement is representing the broadcasters, and they're very concerned about losing those $4 billion of fee that is you were talking about. the idea that aereo has is they're taking what you can do already legally in your home, stick an antenna on your roof and have a dvr, and they're doing it over the internet. that's a new technology that has never been tried before. it's something that allows them to sort of skirt these copyright laws that allows them to not pay broadcasters, and what broadcasters are really worried about is not necessarily aereo so much. it's a start-up. it doesn't have that many customers. they're concerned that cable companies will use this as a way to get around having to pay these similar fees and you can just kind of destroy the entire, you know, business of the broadcast industry. >> you know, what is interesting

is i think growing up we always thought of broadcast networks as the tv that is sort of free to all of us, as kind of a public commons. over the years it's become more and more expensive to watch tv. these channels are packaged and repackaged by cabling companies. what's the harm of having a company able to bring back that former experience, the experience of being able to watch broadcast tv for at least a very low cost, if not for free? >> for broadcasters this isn't about consumers. i mean, they want to still offer their signals to consumers. they get most of their money off advertising, which requires them to get a lot of consumers to watch them. they're really concerned about more the business side of this, which is that they don't want people to evade their ability to capture fees from them. they don't want the cable companies to not have to pay them fees. they don't want to allow these start-ups to sort of free ride and take their content and stream it any way they want. they want to get fees for that. that's the entire crux of this case.

>> you know, it sounds a lot in a way like sort of the napster phenomenon, right, when that first started, and you had companies that allowed you to listen to music, even if it was just music that you kept to yourself and the record companies coming in and saying, no, you cannot do that without basically giving back a fee. >> right. you know, the supreme court has already said, you know, you can have -- there are private uses of content. let's say that i have a super bowl party for a couple of people at my house. that's a private performance even though there's multiple people in my house. if i were to do that at the local bar, then i would have to pay a performance fee because it's not in my house. so, you know, you have a legal right already to have a personal copy. that's what the court today was sort of struggling a little bit with this, this idea of a public performance versus a private performance. for consumers they don't really care. they want to be able to get the service and get freer -- at least not free, cheaper tv service like we used to have when we had the antenna on your roof. >> all right. well, this one is one we will definitely be following. thank you, amy. now for an update on the

crisis in ukraine. nbc news has confirmed that unidentified local authorities are detaining an american journalist in one of the eastern cities where pro-russian forces have taken over government buildings. simon ostrovski was one of six people captured overnight. he is the only one who has not yet been released. there's no word on his stat where yous or who exactly is holding him. the news comes as vice president biden met with the interim prime minister of ukraine today. in a speech biden lashed out at russia and separatist forces that many believe are acting under direct orders of the kremlin. >> we call on russia to stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms sewing unrest in eastern ukraine. we have been clear that more provocative behavior by russia will lead to more costs and to

greater isolation. >> the rebuke comes two days after a fight between pro-ukrainian and pro-russians outside the same city where the reporter was taken. up next from the bundy ranch to the keystone pipeline. people are fighting over what to do with public land, and that's making this an evert day that's just loaded with controversy. i've always kept my eye on her... but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still gonna give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

well, as i said before, today is earth day. the 45th annual earth day to be exact. it's one that for once actually takes place at the same time the country and the president are focused on the issue of environmentalism. now, that's the case this year, but whether you are cliven bundy fighting to graze your cattle

for free in the habitat of an endangered tortuous or teddy roosevelt whose own fights to create our national parks indirectly led to the creation offeth day, environmental concerns have always provoked major political fights in this country. for president obama the biggest of those fights is over the keystone pipeline. the proposed pipeline would start in canada and end in the gulf coast carrying carbon-rich tar sands south. in other words, the really nasty stuff that can poison the land or water if it spilled and it can also contribute to climate change. all this week anti-keystone forces will gather on the national mall in washington to demand that president obama kill the pipeline. they even have the likes of neil young and darrell hannah scheduled to appear at their protests. now, last friday president obama's state department, which would have to sign off on the pipeline, since it starts in canada, again delayed an opinion on whether to build dee keystone. conveniently, that pushes the decision off to sometime after the november election. politics? no way says the white house.

this one is all about the states, they say. specifically nebraska. >> then there have been. >> or action by a state court had an impact on the process itself. jane kleve is with an organization fighting the keystone pipeline. so, jane, thank you for being here. >> i want to ask you -- what is the symbolism of having the teepees on the mall? >> it's made up of tribes and farmers and ranchers all along the proposed route are here in d.c. to ask the president one thing, which is to reject the keystone xl pipeline in order to protect our land and water. the teepees are a symbol of

homes, and, you know, obviously native americans used to -- that is obviously a deep symbol of their home, and it's also a symbol of our communities, and too often this fight gets pitted between environmentalists and union workers and we're trying to remind the president that these are families that would be directly impacted when a tar sands pipeline is built. >> is your protest at all impacted by the fact that we do have this delay in the pipeline. what is your assessment of that? >> yeah. i mean, nebraska essentially has stopped now the keystone xl pipeline twice. this is the second time. we're very proud in nebraska, and we hope that our fight continues to stop the pipeline. the president's decision and the state department's decision to delay the essentially the process was a welcome sign for this event. we know that the president will consider our voices and our faces when rejecting this pipeline, and the process in nebraska, it's not about politics at all. in fact, the supreme court's schedule is going to hear the case sometime late this fall and won't make a decision until early next year.

trans-canada is also facing an expired permit in south dakota, so republicans if they really cared about state rights would be standing with farmers, ranchers, and tribes in defending their state rights right now. >> let's talk about your specific opposition to the pipeline. this is something that is overall popular. maybe when people don't get into the specifics of it, maybe that's the reason. 61% in the latest pew poll favor building the keystone pipeline. it does have some supports among union members that say that there could be jobs as a result. albeit, most of them temporary. what is your specific objection to building this pipeline, at least in nebraska? >> i planted a tree or obviously recycled throughout the year. the more you learn about tar sands and the more you learn about trans-canned yash the company that wants to build this pipe lynne, they are bullies. they are forcing landowners to sign contracts that are very one-sided and shift a lot of the liability for the oil spills when they happen and things like

trans-canada abandons the pipeline on the landowners' property when they're finished pumping their tar sands through it. if you are an ag community, like nebraska, you rely on your water and clean water. this isn't about red or blue fights. this is about clean or polluted water. that is the basics for our concern in nebraska. >> it's interesting because you do have sort of the other side of the argument saying that in a lot of ways the keystone fight is symbolic. their environmental reporter. keystone's political symbolism outraids its policies, substance. mr. obama's eventual decision on the pipeline will have a marginal impact on global warming emissions to make serious dent in american carbon emyings. mr. obama's administration would have to enact policy that is force the two most pole outing sectors of the nation's economy -- cars and coal plants -- to stature emissions." >> what do you think about them saying your fight is more symbolic than substantive? >> you could argue that for the

other side as well. this is one energy infrastructure project. the fact that the koch brothers and afp and everybody else that's piling on the far right, it's symbolic for them as well. when you are protecting your land and water, when you are protecting your home, when you are protecting the legacy that has been passed down through generations like we're doing in nebraska and the tribes are doing up in their land, it's not just a symbol. this is real. this is our families. >> certainly it won't do anything to help us transition to clean energy, which is exactly where the president should be taking us. >> there is also this element because it is earth day, and you do have the fights over states in the tug-of-war with the federal government over what to do with the land. in this case you're saying that the state of nebraska really is on your side in this fight or do you have that tug-of-war inside the state of people saying,

look -- it should be a state decision. >> it's all the federal -- it's the federal's rule and the federal's responsibility, which is shock, but we pushed it, and we pushed it hard, which is how we got the pipeline sewed down the first time, and then the republicans and our state violated our state constitution, which is why the route is now illegal and in the supreme court's hands. it's shocking that republicans are so hip critical and so two-faced essentially on this issue. this is a state rights issue. this is a property rights issue. >> we have environmentalists and tribes, and we'll continue to stand together until we stop it for good.

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coming up, we read between the lines on dr. ben carson and the video that sure makes it look like he is running for something. first, it's time for the stories you can't stop buzzing about on social media in a segment we like to call we the tweeple, and some of you are twit peeved over the misspelling of columbia. a hilarious article from today's wall street journal details a movement of tens of thousands of people who will pounce on anyone who misspells the country's name over social media. culprits such as paris hilton and justin bieber saw the social media accounts flooded with corrections when they made the mistake along with the _#it's colombia not columbia. companies like these have been publicly pressured to

acknowledge the mistake. if you feel as strongly about it, join the facebook page for the cause. it's already over 23,000 strong. be sure to note it's the country that has the "o." i don't want them coming after you. from colombia to the usa where palcohol is on the mind. it was approved on april 8th. many of you went into a social media frenzy over the possibility that you could soon turn water into vodka or rum. your figurative spirits were crushed late monday when the government took back palcohol's approval calling it an error. some of you are not exactly surprised. palcohol would have been the first powdered alcohol on the market. it can turn into liquid into an intoxicating beverage or even be snorted. you tweeted your skepticism over the fed's sudden change of heart with one person tweet this. "oops, palcohol approval apparently premature. reversed by feds because

powdered alcohol, yeah, nose beverage." very bad idea. late night host jimmy fallon also had palcohol on his mind last night, or more specifically gin and juice. check out this viral mash-up featuring "nbc nightly news" anchor brian williams rapping every word of the iconic snoop dogg anthem. ♪ may i kick a little something for the g's and make a few n's as i breeze through 2:00 in the morning and the party still jumping because mama ain't home ♪ ♪ rolling down the street smoking endo, sipping on gin and juice ♪ ♪ laid back ♪ with my mind on my money and my money on my mind ♪ >> yes, bri wi, you may kick a little something for the g's. >> join the conversation on this and more with fellow reiders and keep telling us what is important to you. now this news. here's a look at who to follow on instagram for earth day.

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we did a 27-point inspection on your chevy,ce, you got new tires and our price match guarantee. who's this little guy? that's birney. oh, i bet that cone gives him supersonic hearing. watch what you say around him. i've been talking a lot about his procedure... (whispering) what? get our everyday price match guarantee plus a $100 rebate on 4 select tires from your tire experts. chevy certified service. >> when you hear that music, you know it must be election day somewhere many in america. today you'll hear that music every tuesday here on "the reid report." each week we'll bring you township date on all of the races leading up to the big election day on november 4th. that's when every seat in the u.s. house is up for grabs.

today we begin if south florida where republican voters are choosing a candidate to replace trey raddel, the cocaine congressman who earned that nickname after he pleaded fwlt to cocaine possession in november and resigned in january after a stint in rehab. florida's 19th district is one of the most affluent areas in the state, including pricey marco island, naples, and fort myers. it's also rube where i red. mitt romney won more than 60% of the vote there in 2012. even the democrat in this district is a life-long republican who recently switched parties after 30 years in her former party. of the four candidates in the race pollsters say there are two frontrunners. businessman kirk clauson has been styling himself as the outsider candidate using his own money to finance his campaign. just in case voters didn't get it, his twitter handle, clauson outsider drives the point home. plus, he has the backing of the tea party express, along with congresswoman michelle bachman and senator rand paul. then there is stale senate majority leader who some say is

the establishment candidate. sheets been endorsed by sarah palin and former arkansas governor mike huckabee. will it be the tea party outsider or the establishment candidate claiming victory tonight? we have two of the best people to help figure that out and what this race means for florida and national republicans. a democratic strategist who is an advisor to charlie krist and also worked for president obama's florida campaign, and indicateden dawson, the former chair of south carolina's republican party who worked with texas governor rick perry's south carolina campaign. all right. two experts in the house. there's a recent ought mated poll from the democratic party polling firm that shows clawson leading with 38% and benacquesto and 19% at others at 18%. there is another ought mated poll prosecute superst. pete that shows a tighter race. clawson at 30% and benacquisto at 26%.

let's start with you, kevin, because you are the florida guy here. are either of these polls accurate? is there a clear frontrunner in tonight's race? >> i think we have to remember this was a district where a guy was addicted cocaine was elected, so anything is possible here. it does look like kirk clawson is going to pull this out based on the polling that we've seen. this is a tea party guy who, like you said, had the endorsements of michelle bachman and rand paul who ran on an appeal obama care message largely, which what is new? we'll have another republican congressman that wants to go back to a time where preexisting conditions would disqualify you from health care and you have coverage gaps on your health care. >> so, i mean, all of those issues are important aside, but, you know, these guys all agree. i think even the democrat in this case probably is on their side because they're all republicans essentially. indicateden, i want to talk to you about these national endorsements. it is a special election. they are obviously given sometimes out sized importance,

but what do you make of this sort of surrogate race here between rand paul's guy and sarah palin's girl? what do you make of that? >> you know, i have been able to talk to both camps today and the two leading contenders to find out exactly where the race is, and the race contrary to my democrat friend the race is 3 million to one million. curt clawson has raised or spent $3 million. he has used a group out of ohio, and john yaub, two good operatives. his campaign has been an honest, straight forward campaign. he is an asset to the republican party. she's got a chance to catch it. i doubt with that kind of money, joy, being spent $3 million to $1 million, i think both of us can agree, that's a hard hill to climb. these national i endorsements are important, but they're not deal breakers in republican primaries, especially when you are sitting in a 60% republican district that overwhelmingly turned down the president's agenda. it's overwhelmingly republican.

so right now it's outsider veshsz insider. go look at the jolly race that was a tough race. he was an outsider. not supposed to win, and he did. florida is a little embracing the outside candidate right now. especially one that's been well funded and a good campaign message. liz beth has a future in the republican party. i would expect she'll ob a statewide ballot soon, a good senate majority leader. that is where the race is fixed. if there was a run swrof in florida like most states, she would be the congressman right now. i don't think they'll be winners or losers are. rand paul might want to claim this as a win for the tea party express, but sarah palin's endorsement mattered. mike huckabee's mattered. the nod from jeb bush and the majority leader mattered. republican primary voters are very different than democrat primary voters. they're looking at the issues and what they're facing today. certainly none of the statehouses are very popular right now. nothing in washington is very popular in the republican primary. individual personalities, i'll

give the edge to curt and certainly congratulate liz beth on running a decent race. >> i'm going to get you to say democratic because that's what they call themselves. one day i'm going to get you to say democratic instead of democrat. >> it just makes them mad, joy. it just makes them mad zoosh i know you are doing it to get to us. >> there you go. >> indicateden has written off the idea that this is kind of a microcosm for the fight inside the republican party. but i'm not so sure about that. you do have the rand paul wing of the republican party, and florida is one of those states where the tea party does still matter. it's very unpopular overall nationally, but you do still have a base of that tea party movement that is active in this part of florida, so do you think that at least people that you are talking to on the ground see this as a little bit of a proxy fight for the tug-of-war inside the gopwrit large? >> i think you could say that. you had sarah palin doing robo-calls for the senate majority leader here, and you had the senator back her.

what happened on the ground is that lee in collier county, where this race is, there's a huge tea party contingent who wants, you know, a congressman, again, who is going to say no, no, no to president obama and that's largely -- if you look at the ads, you have a couple of gimmicky ads from clawson's camp, but overall his message was vote for me, i'm going to repeal obama care, and that's what it looks like is going to happen in this campaign regardless of how great a campaign she ran on this special election. >> last question. how important would it be in theory for your party brand-wise to have a woman win this race? somebody like her who does have an interesting background and would bring something different to washington for the party? >> it would bring a lot to us and mean a lot to us. she's still going to be the senate majority leader. sarah palin helped two people named nicki haley and susannah martinez, and ann wagner has endorsed her. certainly we need more women in the republican right, especially conservative women. the voters in florida will get to have that say today, and three million to one million is

just a tough hurdle, and kudos to curt for finding $3 million. >> i will agree with indicateden dawson today. it is historic. money does definitely matter. thanks to both of you for being here. all right. coming up next, solitary nation. even the government admits our prison system is broken, but i'll bet you have no idea how bad it really is. stick around because we will show you and you will not believe your eyes. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be

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>> friday night at the segregation unit in the main state prison all the inmates here are in solitary confinement. they flood their cells. they cut themselves with razor blades. >> we're monsters. can't conduct yourself like a human being when they treat you like an animal. >> now, if you found that clip disturbing, then the frontline documentary filmmakers who

produced it with the goal of giving you a disturbing look into our nation's prisons have accomplished what they set out to do. solitary nation airs on pbs tonight, and the "new york times" calls it about as hopeless an hour of television as you can imagine, which is exactly the reason to watch it. the atlantic adds this. "you don't have to sympathize with the inmates featured in this documentary to appreciate just how broken the prison system is today." yesterday's announcement by the office of attorney general eric holder that there will be new criteria for clemency applications for nonviolent drug offenders made the point that even the federal government agrees, at least on some level, that our system of incarceration of crime and punishment is broken. >> there are still too many people in federal prison who were sentenced under the old regime and who, as a result, will have to spend far more time in prison than they would if sentenced today for exactly the same crime.

this is simply not right. >> among many issues that that system has yet to fully reckon with is solitary cob finement or segregation as it's called in federal prisons. something that got a lot of public attention during the uproar over bradley, now chelsea manning's confinement in a solo cell in a military brig as he awaited trial for leaking classified documents, but which rarely draws much interest when it comes to the many thousands of prisoners in lockup around the country every day. there are, in fact, two kinds of solitary. disciplinary segregation is used for a specific period of time, when, for example, prisoners break the rules. administrative segregation, on the other hand, can last for months or even years. it's a form of treatment. u.s. prisoners are turning to more frequently at least according to the american psychological association. the 2009 new yorker piece "hell hole" he asked is this torture, and he quotes u.s. senator john mccain who wrote this about his five and a half years as a

prisoner of war in vietnam. it's an awful thing, solitary. it crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment." this raises the question, is our prison system getting this right? are there ways we could be better rehabilitating prisoners, many of chom are later released back into society? joining me now is dan edge, the writer, director, and producer of the frontline documentary solitary nation. dan, what -- first of all, thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i want to start by asking you what made you want to make this documentary? >> well, there's been a growing debate over the last few years about the wisdom of the use of solitary confinement in the united states, but it's a debate that's essentially taking place inn kifr information vacuum. very few people really know or understand what it's like in a solitary confinement unit. if you work in that unit or to be living in that unit from the inmate's point of view. what we wanted to do was quite simply document the reality of life in solitary, to sort of

provide information for the nation to have a grown-up conversation about this. >> tell me about tom clement. this is somebody who you met that inspired you to do the film. tell me about him. >> he was the director of "corrects down" in colorado, and when he started in his job there, he was confronted with a statistic that 47% of inmates in solitary confinement were going straight out on to the street from solitary from a little box on to the street with no kind of sort of stepdown program, no way of smoothing that bump bahhing into society. that horrified him, and he wanted to reform the use of solitary confinement in colorado. he was just starting out on that program when he was very tragically murdered by a recently released inmate, an inmate who had spent time in solitary, who quite clearly deteriorated during his time in solitary, become more dangerous when he was in solitary and when he got out, he murdered the very man who was attempting to reform that system. it struck me.

tom was a good man. trying to change a broken system. it sort of energized us at frontline to on look deeply into the scenario and try to contribute to the debate. >> dan, i mean, your documentary has been called a must see for all its sort of horror, but i want to read you one criticism of it in "the atlantic," and it is this. it says almost every single one of the faces that appear on film is white. perhaps that means that white viewers will more fully empathize with what they are seeing. i would love for the journalists who create solitary nation to undertake that same sort of project in a southern prison. what's your response to that? >> so would i. the reason there were so many white faces in this film is because it was shot in maine, and the great majority of inmates in the maine state prison are white. i would love to go back and make a similar film in a prison in a different state, and i have no doubt the racial makeup would be very different if we did. it was very difficult to get access to make this film. we approached almost every state in the nation. the warden of the prison in

maine was courageous. it was brave of him to let cameras in to the unit and give us the kind of access that we had. >> i mean, your take-away, i guess, if you give us your bottom line take-away from doing this film about the effectiveness and really the propriety of using solitary confinement in some cases as an administrative punishment and in other cases they're claiming as sort of a rehabilitative treatment. >> well, if i had any doubt before, i have no doubt now. i mean, almost every single inmate deteriorates very quickly when they're in solitary. it is not rehabilitative in any sense ever. i did take away that there are no easy fixes. there are no easy fixes. there's a huge amount of gray, and there are many inmates we met while making the film who are dangerous. they're dangerous to other inmates. they're dangerous to the staff. in many case cases they're dangerous to themselves.

the trouble is it's quite clear to me and it's quite clear actually to the warden of the prison that we were filming in that the very tactic used to separate these guys from other inmates, that very tactic actually long-term makes them more dangerous. 80%, 90% of these guys are getting out of prison at some point, and if their carrying has made them more dangerous, has made them more unstable, then ultimately we all lose. >> indeed. if there's any reason why people need to know this and understand it, that is a primary one. dan edge, writer and director and producer of the frontline documentary "solitary nation." thank you very much for being here. you can check out the documentary tonight on pbs. thank you, sir. next, reading between the lines on the real ben carson. is he who republicans really want for president in 2016? [ male announcer ] some come here to build something smarter. ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster...

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especially if you are african-american, you no doubt heard the name ben carson. the renowned neurosurgeon who made news headlines for separating the conjoined binder twins in 1987. carson grew up poor in detroit, raised by a divorced single mother of two who sometimes relied on food stamps, but he went to great achievements, including being award the presidential medal of freedom by george w. bush and writing six best-selling books, including gifted hands, which more than a few hard-headed black boys were ordered by their parents to read to get them to straighten up and fly right. what a lot of people didn't realize back then was that carson is also really, really conservative. something we all found out when he surprised everyone, including the president by berating health care reformat a national prayer breakfast, with president obama sitting right there. that made carson a national conservative star who more than a few republicans began talking about as perhaps the perfect conservative alternative to barack obama as a presidential contender. and he started comparing america

to nazi germany and saying things like this. let me tell you something. there's no war on women. what we need to do is re-educate the women to understand that they are the defenders of these babies, not the destroyers of these babies. you know, obama care is really i think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. >> marriage is between a man and a woman. it's a well established fundamental pillar of society, and no group, be they gays, be they nambla, be they people that believe in beastiality, whoever they are, they don't get to change the definition. it's not something that's against gays. >> you see, that hasn't ended the interest in ben carson on the right. he is now a fox news contributor

and politico magazine has a big splashy bio piece on him out today. there's also a piece put out by the real ben carson.com and seems to drop the hint that he is thinking about running. in it he explains what he would do first as president. >> i think it would be very important to have a conversation with the house and the senate and talk about what our goals as a nation should be. i would like to hear what they had to say. you knock the easy things out, and then that helps to establish the relationships. that makes it much more -- it facilitates doing the more difficult things later on. >> now, the video doesn't get much more specific than that, although carson does add this. >> we definitely need to do something to attack the horrible

deficits that we're running and the national debt. we definitely need to do something to stimulate the economy, to deregulate. we need the right kinds of regulations. we need to drae grae on what kind of regulations we do need and get rid of all the other ones. >> that music is the best. of course, the cbo does estimate that the deficit has seen the biggest five-year decline in 70 years falling the 2.8% of gdp and the water in parts of west virginia remains undrinkable, which might call for more regulation, but that may not matter to carson's fans on the right. he is that rare political artifact who is viable not so much for what he says, but for what he is. a black conservative who is good at articulating vague principles, but not so much different than your average right-winger when it comes to rhetoric that turns nonright wingers off. maybe he should run for president. that wraps things up for the reid report today. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern, and be sure to visit us on-line at the

reid report.msnbc.com. the cycle is up next. hey, cyclists, what's going on? >> hey, joy, nothing really. not much. hanging out. >> just hanging around. >> maybe a few things that we're going to talk about. the president is headed asia. we are going to have a live report on that as well as his visit with those victims of the mudslide in washington. we're going to be talking about the implications of the supreme court's latest decision affecting affirmative action and what that all means for the public moving ahead. we have captain keith coburn from the deadliest catch who will be here. we'll talk to him about the latest season what and it has to do with the government shutdown. >> exciting. >> i will be looking at new rules coming out tomorrow that should make mining safer for miners. >> wow. no, very important stuff. i love that show "deadliest catch." it's the bomb. the cycle comes up next. can't wait. get all your favorites all day, everyday. olive garden's signature favorites, just $10 including creamy fettuccine alfredo, and our classic lasagna. plus unlimited soup or salad and warm breadsticks. signature favorites, just $10 all week long,

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state this hour to offer his support to struggling residents. i'm krystal ball, and we are traveling with the president as he begins a critical trip that spans far beyond our borders. a big decision on affirmative action is leaving some heads spinning this afternoon. breaking news. elizabeth warren is not running for president. well, not yet anyway. she is out with the new book. we will dig into it with someone who knows a thing or two about a woman in the white house. >> cycling out of control. the deadliest catch returns for a killer tenth season. in true cycle fashion, cable's hottest show gets hooked like a fish hook on washington. >> thank you for clearing that up. >>