down abby's road. you may be pulled over by a detective. we've been very clear about the fact that there's not going to be a military solution to the problem in ukraine. but we have already applied sanctions that have had an impact on the russian economy. and we have continued to hold up the prospect, the possibility to resolve this issue diplomatically. >> day two of president obama's pacific tour dominated by ukraine and putin, instead of japan and prime minister abe. the president has some much-needed down time at 4:00 a.m. there, before saying farewell to the japanese emperor. up next, south korea later tonight. the president is holding firm to his hope of resolving the ukraine crisis diplomatically. the same goes for japan's territorial dispute with china.

may the people of the world join together to promote justice, peace, and our shared prosperity. nbc news political director and daily rundown host chuck todd is in tokyo. what's going on, chuck? >> reporter: good afternoon to you guys. it's still kind of the middle of the night here. the president is wrapping up the first leg of this four-nation tour here in asia. as far as japan is concerned, the white house believes what they needed to accomplish, they did. the number one thing they wanted to accomplish was to make japan feel reassured that the united states still believed -- still treats japan among equals when it comes to asia. there's a little bit of concern on the japanese side of things that the president and obama administration almost pays too much attention to china, not enough to japan. the president was forthright in his support of the japanese as far as the senkaku islands. china's trying to get their

hands on in the east china sea. he made it clear the united states is on japan's side on that one. of course, all of this territorial dispute is something that has something in common with what's going on, of course, in eastern europe and ukraine. it's on that front that the president made probably the most news of anything during his second day here in tokyo. and that was that he does not expect vladimir putin to abide by the geneva agreement. that new sanctions are teed up. he didn't say whether they would be sect orrial sanctions or targeted sanctions at certain people, certain rich folks, maybe specific companies in russia. but again, he didn't talk about what kind of sanctions, just simply said they're teed up, there's technical issues. obviously that's quote for getting the europeans onboard. the president made it clear, as he has for week when it comes to sanctions against russia, that they're not as effective if the united states does it alone, they need collective action with the europeans going in sinc with

the u.s. on that front. after this, though, this has been very pageantry filled visit to japan. the president had a fascinating little interaction with a japanese soccer-playing robot, that probably ends up being the viral highlight of this trip. but of course, from here, we go to south korea, and in many ways, the agenda for the president and south korea similar to this one, reassure south korea that america views it as one of its most important allies, and ranks above china in importance. that's important to the jap need and very important to the south koreans. in south korea, you expect some provocation from north korea. the president said he wouldn't be surprised if the north koreans try something, that's just what they do. but reminded them they're the most isolated country in the world and they will continue to be. after south korea, off to malaysia and philippines at the start of the week and then we're back in the states. i'll see you then. >> see you then, chuck.

president obama met an english speaking soccer-playing robot. he watched horseback archery, had amazing sushi with the prime minister. and kept it all off with an official state dinner at the imperial palace. there's a cultural value to all of this. critics say we need more than a tour in chief. let's bring in alex, political correspondent, to break this down. alex, good friend of the show, dana, wrote a pretty hard-hitting piece about the president's trip so far. basically suggesting that it is a whole lot of nothing. he writes, quote, one thing is missing from the president's otherwise exciting itinerary, making news. suggesting there is nothing wrong with an american president spreading goodwill and eating good sushi, but it could lead to a perception that his foreign policy is more tourist than architect of world affairs. politico asked the question yesterday, did you even know obama was away?

alex, is this criticism too harsh or do you think it's pretty fair? >> i think it's somewhat fair. but you have to ask, alternative to what? what kind of news is he going to make back in washington where nothing is happening? congress is on recess, and is probably not going to do anything before the election. so, sure, if i were the president, judging by the way things are going here, and his approval rating, i would be happy to go abroad and eat fancy sushi. he can sprinkle in a few bits of foreign policy news. i think it's sort of in news on either front. >> alex, even without being the president, i would like to go abroad and eat fancy sushi. that's a good point. one of the things on the agenda here is the discussions around the transpacific trade partnership, so-called free trade deal that involves a lot of countries, including japan. and it's really sort of run aground in the u.s., criticized by environmental groups, by economic groups, by unions who are concerned that it's going to exacerbate problems for workers

and equality. it's been criticized for the way it's being negotiated in secret. previous trade deals the obama administration has negotiated haven't run up against so much resistance. is this just because the tpp deal is so large and all-encompassing or is it reflecting a sort of renewed vigor on the progressive wing of the party? >> it's probably a little bit of both. but i think this is mostly about the size. this is massive. a dozen countries, including japan, the third largest economy in the world. it's beyond just trade. it's called the trade deal, but it includes intellectual property rights and environmental rules, labor rules, all kinds of things that can regulate national rules in the way life gets carried on in these dozen countries. the previous trade agreements that obama did were initiated under bush. so there's also that, his allies feel like they have more leverage over him since this is being wholly created within the obama administration.

and this japan deal right now, with him being in japan, this is a crucial moment for this deal. japan's the biggest player, and he needs to get them onboard on autos and on agriculture. if he doesn't, it's possible the entire deal falls apart. he's already facing a lot of pressure at home, especially from democrats. this thing is very rocky at the moment. >> alex, while the president's over in japan, treasury secretary jan liu has written a short profile of shinzo abe for the time 100. he has very high praise for abe's economic policies saying they've been designed to defeat inflation, incite dine annism. they believe a lasting recovery is finally in site. this is an interesting contrast. you have the president's top economic guy singing high praise for these very large macro stimulus policies enacted in japan, while in the u.s. the president's running around touting training partnerships at community colleges. the most macro policy is the

minimum wage increase. if this such a good thing in japan, when are they going to start talking about this at home? >> you have to wonder if they're looking abroad, a little bit jealous of what he can do there. i think they're circumscribed heavily by congress, and they're limited by what they can do, so they won't put stuff out there. they've tried to put out big infrastructure plans, rebuffed every time, so we're down to talking about raising the minimum wage. so i think there's maybe a little bit of bureaucratic jealousy going on there. >> alex, i was going to ask you about -- i'm up against the clock. that's ancient history. look, no matter -- >> it's too soon. >> too soon? okay, no problem. i have that problem quite often. no matter how much great sushi the president eats in japan, the media will not allow ukraine to

be overshadowed by this trip. it's important. the president says new russian sanctions are being teed up. but is there anything that the government could do, take away, that would dent putin's ambitions to put back the old borders of russia? anything short of getting europe to say, we're not buying any more of your oil and gas, which would be catastrophic for europe and difficult for america. anything short of that, would it really make a difference in what putin is trying to do over there? >> honestly, probably not. i think a lot of what's going on here is it's about posturing. and it's about showing that he's looking like he can do something that he's looking tough, but, you know, i don't know what happens if the dog catches the car here. i think he's got to look strong, he's obviously facing a lot of criticism at home from the right, and from abroad, people asking for more aid. there's very little the u.s. can do here. it's the same problem he's faced so many times in the add m. look at syria as the most recent

example. he'll look and try and really beg and plead with this image to hope he doesn't look too weak. unfortunately his hands are pretty tied. >> but how closely are these asian nations watching this play out? japan's territorial dispute playing out, and i'm sure they're watching this ukraine crisis very closely to see how we handle it. you know, to see how far they can go. >> well, yeah, it's not too hard -- too big of a leap of the imagination to replace russia with china, if you are south korea or japan. and see the u.s. here looking pretty weak, when it comes to crimea. and you have the replaced crimea with the senkaku islands off of japan, that obama reaffirmed his commitment to. so i think him coming out, you know, these islands uninhabited, but it's been u.s. policy to support japan on them for decades. but i think he's trying to shore up concern about the weakness

he's showing in crimea and ukraine. >> that's right. alex, we'll make sure to bring up your big loss to krystal next time. >> appreciate that. >> no problem. up next, the time 100, did toure make the list? and why huntsman is involved. [ male announcer ] they say mr. clean was born to help people clean better, and that he travels the world inventing amazing new cleaners, like his newest invention, liquid muscle, that lifts and cleans tough grease with less scrubbing. it's a liquid gel, so it's less watery and cleans more. and its cap stops by itself so almost nothing's wasted. ♪ no matter where he went or who he helped, people couldn't thank him enough. new mr. clean liquid muscle. when it comes to clean, there's only one mr. there was a boy who traveled to a faraway place new mr. clean liquid muscle. where castles were houses

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it's not about fashion, or beauty, or music, it's about the influence i've had on culture. and to be amongst the other influential people is a huge honor for me. >> singer, dancer, entrepreneur and mom, beyonce there, talking about her influences and what it means to make the list of most influential people in the world. that list came out just this morning, and beyonce joins 26 other artists in the time 100, including actor robert redford and pharrell williams. russian president vladimir putin made the cut and our own president barack obama. it's president obama's ninth time on the list. he paid a moving tribute about another "it" list member pope francis, writing that the pope, quote, reminds us in ways that words alone cannot no matter our station in life, we're bound by moral obligations to one

another. the tributes are really one of the coolest aspects of the special issue. joining us now is "times" deputy managing editor yo whoever sees the annual list. thank you for being here. i'm sure you're breathing a sigh of relief that the issue is out. and we can now talk about it. >> yes. >> one of the other things exciting about the list is the number of women on it. there's 41 women, getting close to parity there. you have one of my favorite women, dolly parton, writing a tribute for miley cyrus. i didn't realize dolly is actually miley's godmother. she said if i didn't know how smart and talented miley is, i might worry about her. but i've watched her grow up, so i don't. she knows what she's doing, she doesn't have to be so drastic, but i have to trust her choices. i did it my way, so why can't she do it her way. >> it's great to have that perspective of somebody like dolly parton who did it her way, and said, give miley cyrus a

chance. she's growing as a performer. she's talented, let's see what she does. >> i found some of the pairing the most fascinating part of this spread. you mentioned president obama wrote for the pope. hillary was also on the list, but wrote for john kerry. chris christie writing for scott walker. someone else that you might have heard of, my dad, who wrote for titus. i don't know if he had anyone else but my dad. how did you find these parities? how did you come up with the people who best understood these folks and could best write about them? >> your dad did a super job. >> i'll let him know. >> not everyone likes to be edited. pairings are really half the fun of the list. it's almost like we get to make two lists. we're making the 100 and putting equally luminary and equally influential people in a relationship with them. we want to show our readers a relationship they might not

otherwise be privy to. president obama on the pope, they just met in person in march. but obama has been talking up some of the pope's pet causes about eradicating poverty and income inequality for a long time. you have the decades-long relationships like weinstein writing about robert redford. >> one of these other great pairings is christine lagarde writing the profile of janet yellen. she said when she saw yellen was getting confirmed, i had a big smile, too, not because it was another first for women breaking glass ceilings, but her nomination came to pass without much fanfare. virtually everyone agreed she was the best candidate for the job. i think that's a little bit of shade throwing at larry summers right there. >> just saying. >> yeah. but is it such a cool thing -- i think for the first time to have two women among these small

handful of top economic policy making positions around the world? >> i like that lagarde addresses that head-on in her piece. she said, it's great to have another person wearing a skirt at one of these meetings. you can imagine how that would feel. this is what women talk about when they talk about a lack of other women in leadership. we really wanted to show that connection. >> i love that josh was throwing shade on it. >> we heard it from "the new york times" headline, too. >> not the gray old lady. but i was happy to see marina on the list. one of the most interesting artists in the world. to me, a few years ago, for some of the folks, she did this piece at the museum of modern art where she just sat there for three months pretty much all day, staring into the eyes of whoever wanted to sit across from her. and really powerful things happened when people slowed down their lives and just stared into somebody else's eyes for a while. let's show a little bit of the film they made about that happening.

>> people don't understand, it's hard to do something which is close to nothing. it's demanding all of you. there's no more story to tell, no objects to hide behind. there's nothing. there's just your presence. you have to draw on your own energy and nothing else. >> marina is an amazing person who we love and follow. but somebody that a lot of people don't know about. so where do you see her influence? >> it's interesting. she did that piece a few years ago. but this past year she kind of popped a little more into a celebrity status. jay-z did a big tribute video to her. she was the subject of an opera. she's become this really iconic figure. she always was in the art world, but now she's coming out into the mainstream and she's actually funding this performance art space in upstate new york scheduled to open in a couple of years. we wanted to celebrate her work, and to support it going forward. >> one of the coolest things about the list is seeing both the people you know and also

people who are a little off the beaten track that you haven't heard about their work yet. thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, pine tar controversy. the sports story i couldn't quite wrap my head around. man: i know the name of eight princesses. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there. when you didn't dread when youbedtime becausenner with anticipaof heartburn.itation. when damage to your esophagus caused by acid reflux disease

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new cycle begins with tragedy in afghanistan. family members are identifying family members killed by the security guards hired to protect them. one was a chicago pediatrician whose colleagues back at home remember him this afternoon. >> he saw a lot of patients. the kids loved him. especially the parents. you know? so it's going to be rough. it's going to be rough on everybody. imagine the staff, i can't imagine what it's going to do to the patients. >> we're following a strong line

of spring storms this afternoon. it's not just today. our friends at the we thisser channel are warning of a severe threat through the weekend, all the way from the midwest to the east coast. ahead of those storm conditions, bone dry through much of northeast of the particularly in our own backyard in south jersey where crews are working to contain a huge brush fire. it's being fueled by 30-mile-per-hour winds and extremely low humidity. the threat has millions of americans on alert, and has weather experts like wnbc meteorologist chris urging extreme caution. >> red flag warning is in effect from 9:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. this evening. we're talking about relative humidities of 15%. that's desert-like humidity levels with 40-mile-an-hour wind gusts. there's a high danger of brush fires. on a much lighter note, toure, it's your take your child to state work day.

john kerry apparently had a rough time accepting that his kids are all grown up. >> my children are grown up and have kids of their own. this is the best i can do to bring my child to work. believe me, at age 1, that makes him in dog years about 7 years old, right? i've got my hands full. this is ben. he's named for ben franklin. our first diplomat, he's actually the diplomutt. >> oh, wow. >> meantime, first lady michelle obama held an event at the white house where she answered questions from children from the white house staffers. she hosted kids at work. john kerry brought his dog to work. yankees pitcher mike pineda brought his banned substance.

>> they're checking pineda. they're checking his back. >> it's clearly something there on his neck. they checked it out. why would you do that? you know it's against the rules. >> if you haven't seen this story, that was pineda being thrown out of the game for using pine tar, and having it smack dab on his neck, of all places. it will be announced he's suspended for ten games starting tonight. of all the people who should have known better, it should have been mike pineda. last week tv cameras caught him with pine car all over his hands. but somehow, somehow he got away with it. with all that said, let's step back for just a minute. pine tar is technically illegal for players to use. the fact is, most still do. and most of the time, the umps look the other way. but that's kind of hard to do

when it's staring you in the face, or in this case the neck. of course, we have to spin on this. you know, the minute i heard about this story, it reminded me of a scene in major league. we have to play it. let's take a look. >> what's that [ bleep ] on your chest? >> cisco. >> bardol. of course, if the umps are watching close, i just rub a little jalapeno in my nose and get it running. if i need to get the ball running, i just wipe my nose. >> you put snot on the ball? >> i ain't got an arm like yours. i've got to put anything on it i can find. some day you will, too. >> you've got to do what you've got to do. you know, it seems like we all know that these players use pine tar. it is illegal. but it's been used for a very long time. what this is, is just

embarrassing, and totally stupid, because it's not difficult to hide this stuff. you can put it on your belt, you can put it under your sleeve, on the back of your head, on your shoe. this guy puts it on his neck. can we show this one more time to show how visible this was? you might as well put it on your forehead and say, i want to be caught for this. but it begs the question, the reason why this is so stupid because it happened a week ago, as i said, when he was almost caught for this. but he wasn't. and you would think that would make him realize, maybe i should be a little bit more secretive about this. but it begs the question, was this just stupidity or was this genius? was he just wanting to get caught? i'm really having a hard time understanding this. >> i don't think there's any bit of genius in this at all. the guy had a horrendous first inning, couldn't find the plate at all. it's super cold. he needs to get a grip on the ball. but the reason why the umps -- everyone looks the other way is because both teams are doing it.

right? so the red sox don't want to call him out. because the pitchers on their team need it. they're looking at the manager like, why are you messing with him? because then they'll be messing with us. baseball has the culture of, it's not illegal if you don't get caught. so let it go. live and let live. >> that's the part i had a really hard time understanding this. everyone does it, right? it's actually in the cold weather. it helps control of the ball. so you're not having the wild pitches. why not just make it legal? why not just -- >> because -- >> everyone's doing it. >> it's an artificial -- >> it's not like steroids. >> steroids is entirely different. they have never had a tradition of allowing people to -- >> here's the deal. >> here's the difference. nobody knows that this is prevale prevalent. >> apparently we all know. >> you guys didn't know.

>> i don't follow baseball, but -- >> if you watch a normal game, especially if it's cold, they reach under their sleeve or whatever. when you make it obvious, that we have to call out. >> i get that. i get the state of how stupid it is to have it all over your neck and all over your hand, given the state of play. i just don't get quite why they continue making it banned, when everyone is doing it, and apparently in some ways it's encouraged. >> the question is, what alternative rule can you come up with? because there are various different foreign substances you can put on the ball, basically some just about having better control. >> is that okay? in the cold weather, being able to grip it better, is that such a bad thing? >> there are other things that allow you to put spins on the ball. >> so ban those things? >> the question is, it's difficult to draw that line, to figure out exactly what substance people have. and what they're using it for. so maybe the best approach to this has been this looking the other way thing. try to only enforce it when they

think -- >> it seems like a stretch. how hard is it to say pine tar is allowed and other things aren't. >> a former pitcher said last night, it's not a foreign substance, they made it in north carolina. >> exactly. >> it kind of reminds me of my grandmother saying to me once when i did something bad and my dad brought her over to my house, and she pulled me aside and said, it's not bad that you did it, it's bad that you got caught. that's the thing that the guy -- he just needs to be more discreet. get with the flow. and just be discreet like everybody else. >> it does remind me of the male politicians who think they can get away with anything and the rules don't apply to them. >> we can always tie it back to politics. i'm with you. why not just make pine tar legal. >> anyway, it's an interesting debate at the very least. i'm sure that story -- >> anybody use anything they want to use. >> that's not what we said. an area of the economy in need of a post-recession

makeover. the real estate market still struggling to recover. but are the days of white picket fences just an outdated dream? much more cycle ahead. [ woman ] i've always tried to see things from the best angle i could.

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back now with the market alert. stocks are down slightly today despite positive earnings report, including one from apple. the market has been on a tear since the recession, but the housing market not so much. the prices are up from 2012, and a new poll finds americans expect prices to keep raising. housing construction remains maddeningly weak. 900,000 will be built in the u.s. this year. traditionally that would be closer to 1.5 million. if it got back to the usual pace, they could potentially add more than 1 million jobs. the economy would grow at 4% a year, double the rate we're growing at now. we have neil from "the new york

times." today he has a new piece on the housing market. that just went live. neil, home prices are up, why are we building more houses? >> younger people especially, they're staying at home longer. staying with their parents. having roommates, renting places. they aren't going in the housing market and buying houses. that's where demand comes from. nobody's going to build a house that there isn't somebody there to buy. >> really interesting article. you talk about there's a lot of people who want to build houses, they just don't have the demand. there is great demand in terms of apartments. a lot of people renting, building, and renting apartments. and that is cutting into the single-family housing market. and cutting out job creation, potential wealth building, cutting into the home market. >> exactly. some of that's a longer term shift in how people want to live. maybe more people want to live in the cities and not the big suburban house that costs a fortune to heat and cool and all that. this economy has the lingering effect especially on younger

adults, young families, if you can't build up a down payment, if you're not confident you're going to have a job next year, not seeing raises, student loans ahead of you, it's hard to take out a mortgage. >> i was reminded of a satirical article where it was proclaimed recession plagues nation, new bubble to invest in. what's wrong with young people wanting to wait and be cautious and not dive into a mortgage, and save money? to me, that seems like, even though it's not creating the demand in the market and maybe a new housing bubble, it seems like maybe a good thing. >> nobody wants to go back to the bubble years. prices were rising, in a way they shouldn't have. in a way that was not backed by fundamentals. a lot of people don't understand how depressed housing is right now. go back to 1947, 60 years of history, this is still lower in terms of the overall economy, in terms of housing construction than it's ever been, other than -- including the early

'90s, early '80s. these are deep recessions yet housing is less of the economy now. we want to see young families move into the homes being built. >> i want to ask about the idea of the american dream. because it seems to be looking different for millennials especially who aren't looking for the white picket fence necessarily as soon as possible. they're happy living in the city. they don't necessarily need to own something, or own a car. i'm wondering, how much of this is a cultural shift and how much of this is because of the situation that they've been dealt, with the economy that will likely pass in a few years? >> if there is a long-term shift going on in terms of people wanting to live in cities, wanting to have apartments and condos, that can happen. we can still have a housing boom. it just has to be a boom of big apartment buildings. we're not seeing any kind of construction boom, and that means there's more construction workers unemployed, more activity driven by realtors and lumber sailsmen and anything

else. as long as that's the case, there isn't a demand for housing, we won't see a robust american economy. that's the math. >> what do we do to change it? >> it happens piece by piece. somebody who is unemployed gets a job, and they save up the down payment. but it's not something that happens overnight. for years we've been looking for quick fixes for the housing economy. >> you mentioned student loans being one of the things keeping people from forming their own households. not something that people usually talk about in the housing market. is that something politicians should be more focused on, finding ways to make college more affordable so when people graduate they can go out and spend money on housing? >> if you start your adulthood as a career, 23 years old, $100,000, $200,000 in debt, that will constrain your options for everything else. finding a way people can get educated, get the skills and tools they need to have a great clear without having the burden

of debt when they graduate, that's a huge public policy problem for the united states. >> thanks. that was great, neil. a game-changer. we don't like to use that phrase too much around here, but northwestern football players will vote tomorrow morning on whether to unionize. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me, and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened.

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players at northwestern leads them to forming a union. the outcome is far from certain as their employer -- university, excuse me, campaigned against unionizing and several players said they will vote no. getting medical coverage for injuries that show up after thae leave college, and eventually whether they should get the cut of the billions of dollars the ncaa rakes in every year. there's also issues of paying union dues and maybe it's taxable as income. and what happened to being good old student athletes? john bacon, author of fourth and long, the fight for the soul of college football. john, i think you've got to admit that the fight for the soul of college football is going on right now, in northwestern. so do you think that college football players in general should unionize? >> in general, probably not. for the reason you describe. it's like splitting the atom. no one really knew when they did this what was going to happen next. once you bring in third parties and so on, you're not quite sure

who's going to control what. you raised a lot of good points in the introduction about paying the players, about the $1 billion industry, a.d.s getting 18,000 bo nunuses last week, wha wrestler wins the ncaa title. that seems crazy. coaches' salaries increased by 750% over the last three decades. faculty has been about 1/20th of that during that same stretch. that puts you in a certain place right there. there are a lot of problems in college football, and i do believe this union movement is finally getting the attention of the ncaa. but what's going to happen next is hard to predict. >> john, quarterback trevor, one of the players that signed the union card back in january. and he's now saying, i don't think this is actually unionizing, is the right thing for our football team. and he wishes that he learned a little bit more about it before signing on. but it makes me wonder about the influence of the coaches, where you have someone like fitzgerald who is very outspoken against

this. how much influence do the coaches have on the students given the fact they are very vocally against it, both on and off the field? >> obviously quite a lot. don't forget when the vote is over, that guy is your head coach. of course, coaches have a great deal of power. now, i have to say, i've gotten to know coach fitzgerald very well, and if i put one coach in charge of his players, it's probably pat fitzgerald. the guys do love the guy and care about him a great deal. kenny colter, leading the charge, has been quick to point out that he loved northwestern. the coaching staff has been very good to him. they've got a 97% graduation rate. this is not exactly a football factory. like emory, torre. had to get that one in, man. >> john, the officials at northwestern have been making dire predictions about what will happen if the team unionizes. they're saying that the construction of a new athletic facility at the university will be jeopardized, head coach

fitzgerald might leave. how credible are those threats? the way i understand they work is football and basketball are cash cows and cross-subsidize everything else. >> it depends on who's writing the checks. it tends to be donors. if the donor is not happy, then the donor's not going to write that check. it's not based so much on university policy as it is on the whole development officer. that's how it breaks down. now, in the case of northwestern, it's got to be said, northwestern football is not a cash cow. every year the students, part of the tuition goes to athletics. $1,000 per semester per student was going to athletics at the all-time nader at that point, in the '80s. so northwestern is not a cash cow. that said, they do make a lot of money from the big ten network. northwestern right now, thanks to the big ten network and tv deals with espn and all the

rest, they actually have a better tv deal than notre dame does. and that to me was a great shocker. there is money out there. the question is, who would pay for this. what no one seems to be talking about, though, is the obvious specter of title 9. now, alabama's got a hell of a football team but title 9 has a more winning record than alabama. if the quarterback gets ken colter or whoever, gets x, trust me, the backup you have to do for football, softball, baseball, wrestling, you name it. that will be one of the unintended consequences that might kick in if this goes forward. >> the players aren't asking for money, they're asking for improved health care and a few other things like that. and i think what's been demonstrated to me is a union is really just about people coming together and having a collective voice, which is stronger than individual voices advocating for

what they think is best. it seems to me like at this point, even just the threat of them having a union, and having that kind of collective power, has already shifted some of the balance of power between the nce players. >> dead on. one of the big themes from last book that you mentioned, of course, the players have no power whatsoever in the equation until they threat tonight sit down and then all of a sudden, they've got all of it. a few years ago a basketball team, that talked to the unc chancellor at the time, said if they got to the final four, warm up, high five, be introduced and sit down. if they did that, what happens next? at northwestern, the union may or may not be the way to go but somethings that to be done to get the ncaa's attention for the issue that you describe. why a university would not have to pay for a guy banging up his knee at age 20 when he's got a fake knee at age 50 -- and this happens all the time -- is not clear. why you would not guarantee

scholarships at graduation is not clear. plenty of things the players should be fighting for. in the case of northwestern they usually get them anyway. it's an odd place to have this fight. that's one of the cleanest program you'll find. if they don't get together, they will not be heard. >> something to be said for the fact that northwestern isn't a football factory, as you called it. players are treated well. in some ways they can go forward with this plan have and this discussion without fear. >> good point. no good deed goes unpunished. you get a lawsuit. >> i don't see this as punishment. >> look, we have a situation where players tend to work at their sport, 43 hours a week, more than most americans work at their actual job. quite often the schedule is constructed they can't go to class. the fsu championship game, orange bowl, if memory serves

they would miss the first day of the spring semester and quite often in situations where they are going to miss classes, where they have to miss classes in order to participate in their sport. they are quite often going hungry at night, as shabazz napier talked about. quite often penniless, as players talked about, even when jerseys are being sold. shouldn't they have a place at the table where details of their lives are shaped out. >> no question. two parts of the equation that make college sports special are players have fans. but two groups never consulted for any decision about major conferences, playoffs and so on. i talked to devon gardner, star quarterback of university of michigan, my alma mater, whereas, ari, where you need them, devon's an excellent student. a professor said, you know devon gardner? i said, yeah, pretty well. he said he asks the best questions in class i've gotten

in 30 years. i said what would you be in you weren't the michigan quarterback. he said an "a" student. i study three hours a night if i'm lucky. the guys i'm going against can pull all-nighters. we can't do that? we'll be a part of it, right? avo: wherever your journey takes you

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>> if you're anything like me, you spent last sunday night curled up on the couch mesmerized by the seven and final season of "mad men" described by "time" magazine as the signature show of a period in which the same people who used to say i don't own a television are arguing whether film and novels can compete with tv drama. the series found a home on amc, a network known for airing old movies but after going into original programming it bail the cool rebellious outlet paving way for some of the most popular shows like "breaking bad" and "walking dead" the end of "mad men" the end of an era. what will the next wave of tv? who will be the next don draper or my favorite, walter white? what will their big secret big? the shows are more than an hour of enter tanment. they represent part of the cultural fabric, providing commonality and conversation, it's as if characters are our friends. in fact, i recently ran past

harvey specter, the lead character from "suits" and i approached him as if we were good friends. his response made it clear we were not friends but this is the impact television has on lives. what's cool about this next era of television, there are no rules. anything goes, true detective, game of anthothrones nothing's weird, sexy or gory and the outlet doesn't matter either. if the show's unique enough and proves it's worth taking the journey, we will find it. why internet companies like hhu amaz amazon, netflix are thriving. the game has officially changed. as we graduate from the golden able of television and say good-bye to the shows that we love, what happens next? what will that next big story line be? what will be the show that our friends and our colleagues insist, you have to see it. like the way i begged you to watch "true detective" my new

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now, that's a show i want to make, not star in. but make. guys, give me a call. that does it for "the cycle." "now" with alex wagner starts now. >> are you a cliven bundy supporter? it's been a bad day if you are. thursday, april 24th. this is "now." >> bundy backlashed. >> new comments by bundy will undoubtedly leave some of his supporters with buyer's remorse. >> are they better off as slaves picking cotton. >> unhinged. he's a nut. quotes are disspigble. he's gotten so much sympathy and defense from high-profile people. >> is the federal government persecuting cliven bundy? >> called domestic te