on capitol hill, the battle of benghazi. why one leading democrat today says his party should be defiant when it comes to any new investigation. >> an american won the boston marathon for the first time 30 years. [ cheers and applause ] which was inspiring and only fair since a kenyan has been president for the last six. [ laughter ] >> that was a good one. president obama delivering some sy zingers last night. poking fun at his critics and 2016 contenders. who big moments in the case of l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. one on the court, the other a

move by the nba to push him out. is this all the food you will ever need? what's behind the creation that sounds an awful lot like a 1970s science first movie. and how does it taste? hey there, everyone. it's high noon in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to weekends with al lix witt. we're coming to you from washington, d.c. we begin with politics and the lightning rod issue is emerging as a central gop focus for 2014 and perhaps beyond. benghazi was front and center this sunday after john boehner announced plans to establish a special committee to further expand the republicans' quest for answers but this morning democratic congressman and member of the house intelligence committee adam schiff encouraged his party leadership to flat out boycott speaker boehner's special committee. >> it's a colossal waste of time. with the republican conferences so fractured, there's only two

things they agree on. they don't like obamacare, so we've had 50 votes on that. and they do like talking about benghazi. >> you're saying you think the democrats shouldn't appoint anybody to the special committee and let it simply be republicans holding this investigation? >> that's what i'd recommend. i don't know what our leader shipp decide but i don't think it makes sense for us to give this select committee any more credibility than it deserves and i don't think it deserves very much, frankly. >> republicans' renewed interest in benghazi was prompt bid the release of white house documents, including an e-mail that conservatives quickly declared a smoking gun and proof of a coverup, a charge the white house has strongly denied. nbc white house correspondent kristin welker is joining me now. let's talk about benghazi. it's quickly flaired up again. how much of this a gop strategy timing wise heading into the midterms? >> alex, i think it has to do almost everything with the midterms. one thing is clear based on this renewed debate.

republicans see this as a winning issue in 2014. you can expect this to be a key part of their talking points on 2 trail in 2014 and potentially 2016, particularly in former secretary of state hillary clinton throws her hat into the ring because, of course, this occurred under her watch. just two tell you what these renewed e-mails or these newly released e-mails actually say, alex, they involve the talking points, the preparatory talking points for susan rice who, of course, made that now infamous appearance on the sunday shows when she said the attack against the u.s. consulate in benghazi was caused by those protests that were sparked throughout the middle east and not the result of a terrorist attack, something that has now been debunked. those newly released e-mails really suggest that she emphasized and focused on the administration's response to the protests that were sparked throughout the middle east. now, as you say, republicans say that's a smoking gun. administration officials say it's not a smoking gun because the e-mails were really just

describing and preparing susan rice to talk about the broader issue that was spreading throughout the region. nonetheless, this has added momentum to republicans' talking points. take a listen. >> why is it that we're just receiving this e-mail that really shows where the idea for from the video came? because that video was not in the talking points and yet that is what ambassador rice pushed on your show and every sunday show. >> and, of course, those protests sparked may be many called an anti-muslim video that you just heard senator ayotte reference there. i've been talking to administration officials who say they're not too concerned about this because if you look at the polling what most americans still care about most -- things like jobs and the economy. but there's no doubt the issue of benghazi does rally the republican base. alex? >> no doubt about that for sure. kristin, we were both in that room last night listening to the white house correspondents dinner presentations. let's talk first of all about the president. as we know, there was some level of truth in comedy so did the

president subtly suggest that hillary would be the next president of the united states? >> well, alex, you could read some of his remarks that way. he made several jokes about hillary clinton being essentially the democratic nominee. that made a lot of people think, rankled some of biden's supporters. take a listen to one of the jokes for president obama last night. >> let's face it, fox, you'll miss me when i'm gone. [ laughter ] it will be harder to convince the american people that hillary was born in kenya. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> so the president made about three jokes by my count, alex, about hillary clinton. but we should also say that he did make a joke about biden, other possible 2016 contenders were mentioned by the president and comedian joel mchale as well, ted cruz, rand paul. but chris christie got some of the most searing criticism from

joel mchale and i have to say that has a lot of people talking today as well, a lot of people saying that it underscores the fact that chris christie is still very much in the 2016 game despite the whole bridgegate scandal. >> yeah, okay, he did go after him. i was kind of like hmm. anyway, we'll dish more about the white house correspondents dinner next hour. i'll see you then. >> look forward to it. let's go to other political headlines. texas governor rick perry is weighing in on the oklahoma lethal injection controversy. in an interview on this morning's "meet the press," governor perry, whose state leads the nation in death penalties, argued that any reform should be made on the state level. >> in texas for substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our police officers for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the death penalty. >> was this inhumane? >> i don't know whether it was inhumane or not but it was

botched. >> so it's not quite super, but in tuesday is the first big primary day of the mid-term elections. on the calendar are indiana, north carolina, and ohio. surely the biggest name on the ballot is former "american idol" star clay aiken who is running for north carolina's second congressional district. and while most of the washington establishment was at the correspondents' dinner last night cracking jokes, hillary clinton was in chicago where she received her home state of illinois's highest award, the order of lincoln. >> to have the chance to come and be with so many of the people who have made this state such an exceptional place in memory of the greatest bhpresidt who ever served our country very special indeed for me. ukraine security forces are pushing back against pro-russian separatists controlling towns in the eastern region of the country. authorities said government forces clashed with separatists to reclaim a television tower in the eastern town of kramatorsk.

an offensive there left ten people dead, 42 were killed in fire fights between government supporters and opponents in odessa friday. all this comes as rebels freed seven european military observers who were held hostage for more than a week. new documents regarding the recently sunken south korean ferry show a breakdown in regulations meant to ensuring safety. the ferry was overloaded with cargo on 246 trips. that's almost every trip it made with cargo in the 13 months before it sank. meanwhile, search teams recovered another body, bringing the total number of dead to 244. 60 people are still missing. south korean president park guen-hye met with relatives of the victims earlier today and she told relatives her heart breaks to think about how they must feel. that ferry went down 20 agonizing days ago. a grass-roots rally on the steps of the lincoln memorial yesterday tried to energize support for the nigerian teenaged girls kidnapped by the

islamic fundamentalist terrorist group boko haram. about 150 students and a professor organized the protest to raise awareness through social media and word of mouth. they want the u.s. to pressure noorj ya into taking more aggressive action on the kidnappings of about 200 girls from their school. secretary of state john kerry voiced his support yesterday during his african trip. >> let me be clear: the kidnapping of hundreds of children by bow qko haram is a crime and we do will everything possible to support the nigerian government to return these young women to their homes. >> well, the terrorist kidnapped those girls on april 14. back state side now, the city of seattle has announced the biggest minimum wage hike in the nation, increasing it to $15 per hour over the next several years. but what will be the impact on the economy and does an increase have any hope on the federal level? joining me now, democratic congressman jim mcdermott whose washington district includes seattle. he's a senior member of the ways

and means committee and the budget committee. representative mcdermott, good to see you, thanks for joining me. >> good morning, alex. >> what will you, sir, hearing from your colleagues across the aisle when you're away from the microphones or behind closed doors. is there any support for a minimum wage compromise? >> they all recognize it's something we should do. many of them are afraid in the house to do anything about it so the states are just going ahead and doing it themselves. first it was a little town, sea-tac, then seattle city council and the mayor took it up a and we'll do it ourselves at the state level because you can't count on the congress to get it done. we're going to lead the country in this whole effort. >> do you think they should just veto doing anything on the federal level? give that up and deal with the focus on the state level where it seems to be more effective? >> i would do what nancy pelosi is doing, which is continuing to hammer on the republicans to do something that would be good for all meshes. to put more money in workers'

pockets mean it goes into the economy. 70% of the economy is retail and if workers have more money they spend more money and the economy runs. so she should continue to push and embarrass the hell out of them. i think there are places where it will be done instead of in the congress but we should do it at the national level for everybody. what's good for seattle is good for texas, it's good for vermont, it's good for minnesota. >> what's interesting, sir, one aspect of what you're doing there in your home district, the seattle minimum wage after several years will be tide to the consumer price index. so if you can't get on outright increase on the federal level, do you think some sort of a compromise could be reached to tie it to the cpi? >> well, that's certainly a good first step. i think that everybody knows that the minimum wage was set a long time ago and things have gone up dramatically since then. but the minimum wage hasn't. so it is not possible to subsist

with a family of four in a minimum wage job. that's why most people have two or three or four jobs where they're trying to put together enough money to keep their family together. >> let's talk about the midterms, because you said something pretty interesting recently. you said that obamacare may help democrats win control of the house in november. you need 17 seats. do you think that's really possible? >> i absolutely do. you see, what's happening is that we've organized and we've gotten it started in some parts in this country. some parts are still sitting on their hands, they didn't implement the medicaid rules, they didn't do anything. but the word is going to spread mouth to mouth and twitter to twiter and all the social media ways and people around the country are going to say "why don't we have what they have in california? or washington state? or vermont?" and that's going to trigger the question among their legislators well, why didn't you vote for

this? or their governor, why didn't you bring this to us? and i think that you're going to see a wave of people by the '14 election and certainly by the '16 election that says we need to have a national health care plan across the country. it's not going to happen in one week but it's going to happen over time. >> what about poll numbers, though, sir? as we check these out, for instance, the latest nbc/"wall street journal" poll is finding that only 36% of americans support the law. i mean, that's pretty much unchanged over the past year or so. so what is your pitch to the skeptics? >> well, the members that are running and the and can doubts that are running have to pitch the things that are in the law. because the people support having a law that has no pre-existing conditions exclusions, that gives you the ability to keep your kids on until the age of 26, that gives you lifetime limit, take off those caps. all the things that are in the

bill if you poll those things people are supportive of them 100%. it's when you tie it to obamacare, which has had this huge propaganda campaign against it for five years that people say, well, i don't think i -- i don't think like that obamacare. but they like everything that's inside the obamacare. >> do you think the key may be to focus on the districts where the state exchanges have been successful? >> yes, i do. i think where people have already had the benefits will be a lot easier to turn heads around than it will be in those states where they're still wondering what's all the fuss about. they hear the law is out there but it hasn't done them any good. in the states where it's already working i think we have some real chances. >> and the concept of repeal? is that dead in the water considering you have more than eight million people having signed up now? the count is up to some 50 or so votes being taken in the house

to try to repeal it. is that not gong to happen anymore? >> we tried 53 times but i hear john boehner saying we're going to keep trying. i think they can't -- once they're riding a dead horse they ought to get off it. but they don't seem to want to do it. i talked to bill frist who used to be the republican leader in the senate and he said to me "jim, what we should do is not repeal it but fix it." and one of these days john boehner and his leader shipp going to get together and say you know something? we ought to work with the democrats and fix the law in those places where it needs to be fakesed to make ed fixed to the people. >> any concerns that if the senate changes hands that this could become a problem, if you will? >> well, they'll have the problem that the president is still sitting in the white house with a veto pen. secondly, they'll have the problem of more and more people will have had the benefit of the

program and so it is going to be very hard for them to say "we're going to give the insurance companys the ability to exclude you because you have a pre-existing condition." or we're going to make your kids get off your health insurance as soon as they get out of college, which is the way it used to be. now they can go up to age 26. it's going to be very hard to take those benefits away because you've got millions of people who have now taken advantage of them and they're going to say what is this all about? what are you people doing? and the republicans will find themselves having to eat crow. >> all right. democratic representative from washington jim mcdermott, good to see you, sir. thanks so much for your time. >> same to you, see you again. >> the new study that shows kids who are bullied at school may be taking matters into their own hands. and new reaction from the sunday shows to the clippers scandal and whether donald sterling will sell the team willingly. hy i got a new windows 2 in 1. it has exactly what i need for half of what i thought i'd pay. and i don't need to be online for it to work.

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nutrition that performs. >> i think if mr. sterling was going to approach it the right way he would apologize, he would embrace the sanctions and spend the rest of his life proving he was not a racist. >> that was sacramento mayor and former nba all star kevin johnson on donald sterling earlier today on "meet the press." donald sterling's wife spoke out and blessed the clippers as the league announced it will appoint the ceo to supervise the clippers' operation. the clippers beat the golden state warriors last night in game seven of the first round of the nba playoffs. they go against -- up against the oklahoma city thunder in the second round on monday night. "usa today" sports reporter joins me now to talk about the clippers and their recent drama on and off the court. brent, welcome to you.

>> hello. >> let's talk about shelley sterling because she is a co-owner of the clippers. what are the chances she could replace her husband as ceo and how much value does her input have with nba commissioner adam silver? >> the team is held by a family trust so that's where it gets complicated. i think the nba would like the whole family out of this so they can wash their hands of this whole situation but it seems clear the family does not want to give this up without some kind of fight because i think fighting would give them leverage in this case. but she's given no indication she wants to give up her ownership share of this team nor has her husband. >> certainly because he's known as one of the most litigious figures in sports, correct? >> right, he has a history of suing people and getting sued. it goes back a long way. he is a divorce attorney, a former divorce attorney himself. in 1981 he bought the clippers. in '84 he moved it from san diego to los angeles without the league's permission. the league responded by suing

him for $25 million. he sued them back for $100 million, three years later they finally settled. he paid the nba $6 million which was a concession of $19 million that he saved himself. so i mean, there's a president right there for -- precedent right there for him showing that fighting this could give this rev ledge. >> i want to play you a clip from "meet the press" when kevin johnson talked about adam silver's actions. let's talk about that. >> the players sent me in to talk to commissioner silver and the players wanted an immediate investigation, they wanted to have a voice. they wanted to make sure that they weren't passive participants and thirdly they wanted the most maximum, most severe sanction possible. commissioner silver exceeded those expectations in 72 hours. there's no way -- no one decides things that quickly and he did in the a very strong way. >> adam silver getting a lot of credit for handling this crisis swiftly. it's not totally finished but he

diffused a great part of it. how was he able to issue the sanctions against sterling so quickly, including that $2.5 million fine and the lifetime ban from the nba? >> the nba constitution gives him pretty broad power to act in the best interest of the league. nowhere in the constitution does it say no owner shall make stupid offensive statements in a private conversation but it gives him authority to act in situations that arise that are not explicitly covered by the constitution. the constitution also does provide a situation where three quarters of the ownership could vote another owner out. if that owner willfully breaks rules. it's questionable in this case and if he does fight he might make that argument that he did not willfully break any nba rule when he made these comments, no matter how bad they were and offensive they were, that they did not break a specific league

rule. >> interestingly, here's part of shelly sterling's statement about adam silver. it reads "i welcome his active involvement in the search for a person with the utmost character, proven excellence and a commitment to providing quality and inclusiveness." what is the timeline for commissioner silver on selecting new ceo for the clippers? >> i think they want to do this as fast as they can. the process is outlined in the nba constitution where this could happen within a couple weeks where they could have a vote in a couple weeks, they could try to take control of the team in a couple weeks, appoint a ceo as fast as they can to take control of the team in the meantime. but the question -- we have not heard from mr. sterling about his future plans and what he's going to do in this regard. he's expected to fight because of his history of fighting and i think if he does fight he buys himself some time and maybe cts >> you have to give kudos on the guys to the court when they've been playing so well and look

where they got. i think they've beaten a lot of expectations, don't you any. >> they have. they advance to the second round of the playoffs against oklahoma city. if you look at the history of the clippers, they have been a very poor franchise, a losing franchise for so long the so the fact they won a playoff series is a big deal in terms of clippers history and considering all the distractions that this has caused is is big deal for them to win last night. >> i think an even bigger deal considering what they're facing. thank you so much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. more highlights from the white house correspondents dinner and a bit later, who's watching the border. american citizens accusing the border patrol of going to extremes. [ male announcer ] ortho crime files. reckless seeding. a backyard invasion. enter homeowner, and ortho weed b gon max. kills weeds without harming innocent lawns. guaranteed. ortho weed b gon max. get order. get ortho®.

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best city smack dab in the heart of silicon valley. san jose, california, san francisco, austin, texas right behind with raleigh, north carolina and houston rounding out the top five. flips houses may be a tough try make a living but it can pay handso handsomely. a realty track analysis shows over the first three months of the year home flippers in reading, pennsylvania, made the most profit with an average return of 131%. now to an investment of love for pets. a new amazon.com ranking shows folks in miami spend the most on their furry family members. miami outspends on apparel, accessories, grooming and health supplies. second place, seattle, shells out the most on pet treats and atlanta ranks third overall. >> i'm coming with you. >> too dangerous. >> sorry, love you, don't hate me. >> peter! >> that's some high drama packed with fast action. it's the opening weekend for "spider-man 2." looks like a big win we are an estimated take of around $90

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welcome back to weekends with alex witt. now for headlines after the half. thousands of survivors are waiting for food and water after a massive landslide in afghanistan. the number of killed or missing in friday's slide ranges from a few hundred to as many as 2,700. at least 300 homes were buried and the united nations says more than 4,000 have been displaced. in pennsylvania, carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected in the deaths of a man, a woman, and three small children. the bodies were found inside a cabin saturday and police say the building was not properly vented for a propane heater that was inside that cabin. a new study out this weekend shows children who are victims of bullying are more likely to bring a gun or knife to school compared with students who are not harassed. 30% of bullied students told researchers they brought a weapon to school in the past year. another sunday, another move by some in the gop to dredge up benghazi.

a conspiracy storyline. >> the video story clearly came from the white house and why did it make a difference? six weeks before an election pushing a story about a spontaneous reaction to a video which is what ambassador rice said on your show and other shows as a result of the attacks as opposed to a coordinated terrorist attack is a very different narrative when you're trying to push this was not a -- a broader failure of foreign policy. >> the latest twist includes house speaker john boehner's call for a select committee to investigate the 2012 attacks and the u.s. response. joining me now, jimmy williams. jimmy is the executive editor of bluenationreview.com, also an nbc contributor and my good friend. thank you for joining me in the studio. >> happy sunday. >> let's begin with what prompted this benghazi revival for the gop and this was this memo that was released by the white house in which some are saying, look, there's a suggestion of a coverup here by the administration. what is your honest interpretation of this memo? >> two thoughts. first and foremost they should

have released it to begin with. this didn't have to be a foye ya request because now you've given the republicans to keep talking about benghazi. secondly, i don't remember the outrage in 2002 and in 2003 and 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 when there were 13 attacks on american embassies, pakistan, india, uzbekistan, saudi arabia, greece, yemen, turkey, 60 people died collectively. 60 people died, including school children and the gop said nothing. not a word when george bush was president. did the democrats create a select committee to investigate this? no, they didn't. they didn't do that. even when they were in power they didn't do that from '06 to '10. so hypocrisy stinks, especially gop hypocrisy and i have a very big problem. ambassador rice and three others died in benghazi. it was a tragedy -- >> ambassador stevens. >> sorry. ambassador stevens. >> it was a tragedy. but david foy died march 2,

2006. where was the outrage then? silence. the silence is deafening to me. so i have a big problem with what they're doing here. this is about hillary clinton, 2016. >> let's listen to what former presidential senior advisor david plouffe had to say today. >> was it a mistake not to release this e-mail earler. >> >> this has been politicized like we've never seen before. richard nixon talked about a silent majority. there's a loud delusional party controlling our politics now. there's no conspiracy at all. >> pretty much echoing validating your thoughts right there. >> i'm glad to know i think like david plouffe. i'm not as smart as david plouffe. the republicans can't seem to pass legislation. they can't get -- they're not going to give president any deals on anything from tax reform to immigration reform. they're not going to pass anything. the congress is done for the year. america needs to understand that. so if that's the case, what are they going to do? obamacare is beginning to succeed to so the only thing they can do is say the word

"benghazi." it's three syllables. have a select committee. dan burton did this and fred thompson did this back in the 1990s. i worked in the senate and they wasted a lot of money. what did they find out about white water and travelgate? nothing. same thing here. >> so if this is all about politics and coming up with the mid-terms, tell me, do you think there's any part of this narrative that's going to resonate with the public? >> i think you have a gop part of the electorate that believe there is's a coverup. i think you have the democratic part of the electorate that doesn't think there was a coverup and i think you have to rest of the country, which is something like 50% of inspects that don't know and it doesn't matter to them because it doesn't task cost of college tuition or gas or are their kids in good schools. america is for all intents and purposes tuned out. so the gop is very good at something in midterms getting their people out. the question is will the democrats do that? >> let's have you put on a gop consultant hat for a second. how would you advise the gop? because this isn't really resonating. >> i'd advise them do exactly

what they're doing. how sick is that? i would say go after benghazi because you're killing two birds with one stone. you're drumming up your base for november of 2014 and you're attacking hillary clinton the entire way through. so you're actually -- you're double dipping, if you will, into the scandal pot. now, there is a vein of people raising eyebrows when someone says "what did hillary clinton do as secretary of state? what were here accomplishments per say in" and it's hard to pinpoint that, right? i mean, what did -- did she figure out middle east peace, et cetera, et cetera? no. at the same time we didn't have any crazy stuff happening while she was secretary of state. he had to rebuild our country's image across the world. but that's what they deal. that's the vein they'll tap in and say she did nothing and benghazi happened on her watch. >> can i ask you about the select committee called for by john boehner. we had congressman adam schiff and he said democrats should just boycott that. you worked on capitol hill, can they do that? >> they can do whatever they

want. you don't have to show up to a committee. by the way, the democrats appoint their members, the same thing in the senate, the caucus decides who will do that. the steering committee decides and floeps decide if she wants to put people in that committee. if he were them i would not do that. i would put people on the committee and i would put people on the committee to talk about things i just talked about. those 13 embassy attacks. i would talk about how the cia intelligence was at best faulty and that's why susan rice got lambasted all over the tv airwaves and i would talk about the senate report, the senate bipartisan report that says in fact, yes, a little bit of this was because of that video. so let's have that conversation. let's get it out there and let them waste money. republicans are very good at something called overreach. if question is will they overreach between now and november? >> sit right there because i'm going to go someplace here which is what happened last night. >> i'm not leaving. i'll stay with you. >> it's one of the most anticipated nights on washington's social calendar, the annual white house correspondents dinner. president obama held court and he dished out jokes aimed at the media, yes, and washington's

movers and shakers. many famous faces attend the event. the president didn't hold back, taking a pointed jab at the speaker of the house. >> and i'm feeling sorry, believe it or not, for the speaker of the house as well. these days the house republicans actually give john boehner a harder time than they give me. which means orange really is the new black. [ laughter ] >> that was one of the best lines right there. totally fantastic. no subject was off limits. the president could not resist talking about the next election year. >> it's a long time between now and 2016 and anything can happen. you may have heard the other day hillary had to dodge a flying shoe at a press conference. [ laughter ] i love that picture. [ laughter ] >> we all did. joel mchale of nbc sit come "community" headline it had event.

he couldn't help but take a shot at hillary clinton as well. >> hillary clinton has a lot going for her as a candidate. she has experience, she's a natural leader and, as our first female president, we could pay her 30% less. [ laughter ] that's a saving this country could use! >> yeah, i was there, too, my buddy alicia quarrels of "e" tweeted this picture of the two of us. that's a jenny packen dress. anyone could have worn that and strld looked fantastic. >> i could have. >> what did you think of the whole event? >> it's our prom, everyone calls it the prom. i've been doing this for years, i went when i was a staffer. it's a lot of fun. i don't go to the dinner because when the president locks you down you can't leave for three and a half hours so there's rather things i'd be rather doing than sitting in the hilton eating bad food and drinking bad wine for three and a half hours. >> it wasn't that bad. >> i had a bitter dinner, trust me. but it's a fun thing.

and the president is as untapped into d.c. social life as he is, he love this event and he's good at this event. the president can tell a joke. bush was good at this, by the way. and this is a fun time for everybody to come together and just have fun. >> well, it was fun to see you at the afterparty, how 's this? jimmy williams, thank you so much. speaking of dinners, the new meal substitute that could become a solution for world hunger. what it costs and what it tastes like. as a kid, i made a list of all the places i wanted to visit.

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written in detalg aboil about t troublesome top pick and he joins me now from mexico city. tim, what happened along the border? why are so many area residents outraged? >> well, i think it's really growing pains by the border patrol and customs and border protection. the border patrol has doubled in size over the last seven years so there's an awful lot more agents along the southwest border and at the same time that immigration -- migration flows are reducing. >> but if that's the case, if you have agent numbers having doubled, what's interesting to me is the number of undocumented immigrant arrests, that has dwindled down to about a third of what it was previously. i mean, the agency also plans to hire 4,000 more agents over the next two years. so what does this say about their effectiveness and how is this rapid growth part of the

problem? >> well, it's -- you know, the result of this rapid growth has certainly been felt among those who are living near the border. they're finding that there's more checkpoints that they must endure all the time. if they have the bad luck to live near the border, this is something that they put up with all the time. and u.s. citizens who come back into the united states are finding that they're in some cases their constitutional rights are not necessarily respected near the border. >> tim, interestingly, this agency is also being scrutinized for the number -- increasing number of fatalities in recent years. it's been called to modify its use of lethal force policy. what do you think is behind the sharp increase and what can be done about it? >> well, there have been 21 people killed by border patrol agents since the beginning of

2010 and many of these people have been illegal immigrants. i'm based in mexico city so i first became interested in this because so many -- the majority of those who have died have been mexicans. but increasingly those affected, those killed, are u.s. citizens and this has brought attention to the fact that the border patrol and customs and border protection actually have very little oversight and the mood in congress in recent years has been expand almost at all costs so therefore hiring practices and thorough as they should be and those along the boarder are blaming washington more than anything else that they're encountering problems with border patrol agents. >> it wasn't clear to me in your article, the mother in chula vista, california, the one shot dead by border patrol agents, a mother of five, was she a u.s.

citizen or not? >> she was a u.s. citizen and that's what makes that case even more -- really sort of amazing. she happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. she an apartment where undercover border patrol agents arrived in plainclothes. she -- there was no warrant for her arrest whatsoever. they said "you cannot leave." she got in her car anyway. a border patrol agent jumped on the hood of her car. she started to back up and he stayed on the hood, she stopped, he jumped off, she continued to back up, he fired ten times through her windshield and killed her. >> but, tim, can we also say this is a border patrol agent by your reporting here that had been fired from his previous job as a sheriff's deputy for a variety of misconduct. >> he hadn't actually been

fired, he was in the process of being dismissed and, that's correct, he had a number of disciplinary problems including at one point leaving a person in the back of a squad car with the windows closed in 102-degree temperature and he turned the heat on. so he clearly was a man who was not very respectful of the rights of anybody who was arrested. >> all right. tim, i want to get in a statement offered to us -- >> let me add also, he was -- >> no, very quickly. >> i was just going to say this man is still in his post. there's a lawsuit going on over it but it's -- you know, they clearly had not done a thorough background check on him and he had been recommended for the job by a member of congress from california. >> well i want to add the border control says conditions have gotten more dangerous for their officers, there is more violence against the agents and the statement read "the cbp stresses

honor and integrity and always regrets the loss of life. an overwhelming majority of our employees and officers perform their day to day duties with distinction. we don't tolerate construction and abuse within our ranks." i'm certain there's some truth to that statement, of course. >> well, i think the vast majority of border patrol agents try to do their jobs well. the question is are the minority who perhaps are not well versed in the constitution, what should be done to make sure that abuses don't happen? and there have been some incredible abuses. >> well, mcclatchy's tim johnson, thank you for the article and for coming on and talking with us about it. i appreciate it. the call for action coming from the u.s. and around the world after hundreds of teenaged girls are kidnapped. defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d. highly soluble, easily absorbed.

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only from xfinity. >> what if you could have a drink that could replace food and solve world hunger?

the creator of a new problem called soylent says he's done just that. >> everything the body needs, no toxins, no allergens, no carcinogens, no waste. and it's delicious. >> soy lent is perfectly taylored to your body and life-style. >> joining me now, julie beck, associate editor of health request the "atlantic." julie, welcome. this is interesting. where did this idea and the funding come from? >> so rob reinhart is the guy that invented it and he was just fed up with, i guess, having to make and eat food all the time. he felt it was a burden so he invented it himself, tested it on himself and wrote about it on his blog and it got attention online and they had a crowd funding campaign last year that got funded within, like, two hours so there's a lot of interest in it. >> what are folks saying about this as being a potential end to world hunger were it able to be mass produced. it has no roughage in it, correct? >> no, there is fiber.

>> oh,s? >> there is fiber. so he says it is nutritionally complete. they went off various fda regulations and a lot of guidelines like that. so he claims, you know, it can be a total food replacement. if they can get the price down manufacturing it it could very well be something that's easily shipped to food deserts or places where there is hundredor. >> i'm curious what the cost is now. when you think about trying to end world hunger, you're trying to appeal to citizens of countries where there is hunger and these people make $30 a month. >> i don't think they're there yet. he says the cost is three calories per penny, that's what you get for your investment. so they want to get the price down. but obviously this is the first shipment and so they're -- they may be able to do that in the future. >> is there a market for this here in the u.s.? >> it seems like there might be just because of the interest they got from the crowd funding campaign. although, you know, humans generally don't care for monotonous diets and they do get

bored and so i think that having it be something that replaces food entirely that people drink for every meal or most meals seems somewhat unlikely. >> you had your own experience with soylent. you did it for about a week. what did it taste like and how did you feel? >> to be clear, it was a homemade diy version of soy lent so it wasn't the same thing he's shipping to people now but i did live on it for a week. i was nourished, i was fine. i didn't like it that much. it tastes sort of like a click shake but off, is what i always tell people. there's sort of like a chemically aftertaste that's not great. but, you know, it may be the version he has tastes better. >> and weight? stable? loss? gain? >> i lot a little bit of weight that week but it came back when i started eating food again. >> the name soylent. i mean, that's something that harkens back to that 1970s film and you think of charlton heston, right? >> that's what everyone says. >> for those people who don't

know. play this, guy you guys. >> you've got to tell them! soylent green is people! we've got to stop them! somehow! >> i wanted to play the clip there. >> rob reinhart, i think he named it soylent because of that which is a weird joke if you want people to eat but -- >> well, it is what it is. julie beck the atlantic, thank you for coming. new reaction about the los angeles clippers from the sunday talk shows. new car!

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the great thing about a subaru is you don't have to put up with that new car smell for long. the versatile, 2015 subaru forester. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. it's the next step in ridding donald sterling from the nba. meanwhile, his wife has issued a new statement about the nba ban. it's a call for action. rallies in the u.s. echo those in nigeria demanding more be done to save hundreds of kidnapped school girls. benghazi blowback. is that alleged smoking gun, mail really a political boon for republicans? >> last year was rough.

geez. [ laughter ] at one point things got so bad the 47% called mitt romney to apologize. [ laughter ] >> say what? it's the president's annual standup act. so how did he hand this will year's laugh lines? hey there, everyone, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west. we have new reaction to the nba's latest move against los angeles clippers owner donald sterling. sacramento mayor and nba all-star kevin johnson spoke on "meet the press" about his role. >> the players sent me in to talk to commissioner silver and the players wanted an immediate investigation. they wanted to have a voice. they wanted to make sure that they weren't passive participants and thirdly they wanted the most maximum, most severe sanctions possible.

commissioner silver exceeded those expectations in 72 hours. there's no way -- in washington no one decides things that quickly and he did it in a very strong way. >> nbc's mike tie yeeb biis joining me from our l.a. bureau. let's get the latest. >> first things first. let's talk about what happened on the court. the los angeles clippers won. they beat the golden state warriors, they're going on next with the oklahoma city thunder and the likely league mvp kevin durant, the okc will be favored in that series. but the clippers season goes on but so, unfortunately, does the sad saga, as you pointed out, of donald sterling. p even before the clippers took the floor for the game that could end or extend their season, their fans lamented their dilemma, to have a team owner cheered by no one after he shamed himself into a lifetime

ban. the superfan called clipper daryl spoke for many. >> it's crazy. when could you say "clippers" and "championship" in the same sentence. now we can and he did this? come on. >> the league has begun the process of forcing donald sterling to sell the team and owners voting unanimously to prepare charges for commissioner adam silver to serve on the 81-year-old billionaire. and during the game news of another development. >> the nba announced today that it would appoint a ceo to oversee the team. >> sterling's wife shelly was at the same. she was quoted as saying she supports the appointment of a ceo but had no comment on the abc interview of her husband's alleged girlfriend v stifian know who recorded sterling's racist comments. >> it hurts to see someone that you care about hurting. >> on the court, the clippers got it done in a game seven nail biter. >> they've gone through held and have survived. >> knocking aside the golden

state warriors despite the added burden their owner created? >> we had that baggage with us for the series but now it's pretty much over. i mean, it's obviously still lingering but it's not quite the same. >> sterling, gone as a presence at the arena with the team he's owned for three decades hasn't said whether he'll surrender or sue to try to hold on to the clippers. no matter. the team has moved on. this remains complicated. sterling, as we said, hasn't signalled what he's going to do but the owners' committee representing o 10 of the other 29 teams will meet to come up with the charges. they want the commissioner adam silver to serve on sterling to get it started to force him to sell the team. we're not there yet. alex? >> mike, financial implications, what are they for donald sterling in a sale? >> well, they're huge. if he does sell now, if he does what commissioner wants, he has to pay a 30% capital gains tax. that's based on the difference between value of the team he

bought in the '81 which was $12 million and nearly a billion now. so he could be on the hook for a hundred million dollars. so if he stands and fights, files divorce from his wife and it becomes community property he might keep it out of the nba's property. or if he dies his heirs would only pay capital gains on $20 million or $30 million. that capital gains tax. he's having his professional advisors talk to him about that, i'm sure. we're still waiting to hear from donald sterling. >> alex? >> thank you so much, mike. banning sterling may prove to be easier than forcing him to sell the clippers. a sports attorney tells us why at the bottom of the hour. let's go to today's political headlines. a judge in arkansas will hand down his ruling in a case challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. yesterday, state attorney general dustin mcdaniel said he supports same-sex couples right to marry but added that despite his personal believes he will continue to defend arkansas's ban in court.

texas governor rick perry is weighing in on the oklahoma lethal injection controversy. in an interview on this morning's "meet the press" governor perry, whose state leads the nation in death penalties, argued that any reform should be made on the state level. >> in texas for a substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our police officers, for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the death penalty. >> was this inhumane? >> i don't know whether it was inhumane or not but it was botched. >> the next lethal injection scheduled in the u.s. is next week in texas. so far the state says it will go forward. let's go now to ukraine and new video of escalating violence there. hundreds of pro-russian separatists have stormed a police station in odessa demanding the release of more than 100 people detain there had since friday. and this follows violent clashes in the city that left more than 40 people dead. joining me now on the phone,

nbc's keir simmons, he joins me from donetsk, ukraine. keir, first to you. we understand that the pro-russian separatists that were detained have been freed. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. our person there tells us that around 30 activists have been released. what happened was the pro-russian protestors stormed the police station and released them shouting "russia, russia." and what people were worried about in the weeks gone by is whether or not russia might invade ukraine with owl all of military on the border. perhaps what they should have been worrying about the is rule of law disg.i. integrating, potentially the country splitting apart because oe zaesz -- oe zaes is in the south of the country. so it opens up another problem for the ukrainian government and these people were shouting "we

will not forgive" because you remember what happens before then was that tens of protestors died in a building when it burned down. there are terrible, terrible stories of people in the street taunting those pro-russian protesters in the building as they were dying. people are clearly furious across southern ukraine there and here in eastern ukraine where i am. there have been protests on the street. here as well we continue to see a town surrounded by the ukrainian military. they do not appear to be moving on that town but that's another potential flash point. alex, there are flash points everywhere and, again, as i say, the concern must be that the ukrainian government in kiev is simply losing control parts of its country. the prime minister here has been criticizing his own police about the way that the police handled

the union building that fire -- the fire in the union building before the week end so the prime minister criticizing the country's own police. >> very, very difficult time. thank you very much, keir simmons, for bringing us an update. we appreciate that. there is increasing outcry over the mass kidnappings of teenaged school girls in nigeria. it's been more than two weeks since armed gunman and abducted at least -- get this -- 276 girls. rallies demanding theirs recrew spreading with protests held in various cities including new york and washington. but what's being done find them nbc is following the latest from london. duncan, good day to you. who are the terrorists accusedover taking the girls and what's being done to find them? >> hey, alex. a group called boko haram is being blame bud no group has claimed responsibility. boko haar ram translates as "western education is forbidden." it's a violent islamist group

which is trying to carve out an islamic state in nigeria. it's part of the insurgent any that country for the last five years or so that has cost thousands of lives. boko haar ram is confined mostly to the northeast of the country, that is where this girls school was. nobody knows for sure what has happened to them. some parents say that according to villagers some of the girls have been taken across the borders to cameroon and chad. local politicians claim some of the girls have been forced into marriage with their abductors but we just really don't know. secretary of state john kerry is on a tour of african nations. he called the abduction an unacceptable crime. >> the kidnapping of hundreds of children by boko haram is an unconable crime and we do everything possible to support the nigerian government to return these young women to their homes. >> now, it's more than two weeks since those school girls were

take son there's a sense of frustration with the nigerian government. there have been protests in nigeria and increasingly in cities around the world. new york, washington and here in london. there's also a social media campaign under way under the banner "bring back our girls." through the night, the nigerian president met with security and local state officials and with the head teacher of that girls school and he said everything must be done to free the girls. but more than two weeks on, it's not clear how they're going about that. alex? >> the whole thing is outrageous. thank you very much for the update from london. more republican fury today over benghazi, but what would a gop-led investigation really accomplish? former governor howard dean next. ... a mouth breather? well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than allergy medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right.

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the benghazi debate is flaring up again after a newly released e-mail has the white house facing questions about the deadly 2012 attack. house speaker john boehner announced a special committee to investigate, even subpoenaing secretary of state john kerry to testify. the controversial e-mail sent to former ambassador susan rice by a white house aide outlined a goal to "underscore that these protests are rooted in an internet video and not a broader failure of policy." while republicans consider this a smoking gun, democrats call the whole investigation a red herring. >> i think it's a colossal waste of time. we've had four bipolartisan investigations already. and the republican conference is so fracture there had's only two things they agree on, they don't like obamacare so we've had 50 votes on that and they do like talking about benghazi. so we've had four investigations on that. but i don't think it makes sense, really, for democrats to participate. i think it's just a tremendous red herring and a waste of

taxpayer resources. joining me now, former governor of vermont and former chair of the democratic national committee howard dean. governor, good to have you back on the show. >> nice to be on. >> you heard your colleague adam schiff. do you think it's a colossal west of time? what do you think of benghazi being back in the headlines? >> it's along the lines of "obama is a muslim" or "obama was born in kenya." it's a marker for the really hatred-driven core of the republican party. but the problem is, it doesn't do anything for the independents and it probably doesn't do much for reasonable, thoughtful republicans. i don't think john boehner would be having this investigation if he didn't think he needed to do it to keep his caucus together with the 80 far right people in the caucus. so i say bring it on. have as much benghazi investigation as you want. it has no traction among the american people and it shows the republicans for who they have to cater to. >> how about the hillary clinton factor here, though?

because as you know she has said repeatedly and as recently as this last week that what happened in benghazi is her "biggest regret." is this just targeting and discrediting her as she potentially gears up for a 2016 run? >> who knows what the motives of these folks are? again, it's this -- who knows what the motive of the obama is a muslim routine were. i can't tell you the motives of people who are slightly off the mark. but i don't think -- look, the most important thing is to look at what people think in america and there's almost no traction whatsoever with this among independents, middle of the roaders, moderate republicans. they'd like to get on to the economy and things that matter. this is a distraction. all the republicans are doing is reinforcing their inability to get anything done in the congre congress. >> all the talk, speculation around a clinton 2016 run gets louder and as you can imagine it

came up at the white house correspondents dinner so let's listen to what host joel mchale said about it. >> hillary clinton has a lot going for her as a candidate. she has experience, she's a natural leader and, as our first female president, we could pay her 30% less [ laughter ] that's the save this is country could use! >> so not cool. but any way, governor -- listen, you've been there done that. when can we expect to hear a definite answer one way or the other? give me a timeline here. >> i'm guessing, i don't have an inside pipeline. i don't think secretary clinton has made up here mind. i think she will take into account the needs of the democratic party which won't be so easy to do in terms of having to go through a you have to primary process. i would expect sometime in 2015, well after the 2014 elections are over then she's going to stay. and i think she's got a lot of

thinking to do about this. this is a tough one. once you've done this you want to think carefully before you do it again. >> for sure. speaking of the clintons, former president bill clinton defended his economic policies in a very robust speech he delivered to the students at georgetown university yesterday. let's take a listen to that. >> in all the so-called prosperity of the 1980s, only 77,000 of our fellow americans moved from poverty into the middle-class. in the '90s, 100 times as many, 7.7 million people, did. that was policy. [ cheers and applause ] >> i stand corrected, it was not yesterday, that was wednesday's speech. but how much of this do you think was aimed at shaping his own legacy and how much of it might be geared at propelling his wife to the white house in 2016? >> i'm sure there's a little of both d. fact of the matter 1 that the middle-class is has suffered in this country for a long time. the average wage has increased

among middle-class people, the bottom 80%, .3% in the last 20 years. so, you know, everybody who's been in office is a little defensive about that. everybody who's been in office is a little defensive about the collapse in 2008 which wasn't obviously 100% george w. bush's fault. of course, those of us who are partisan might want to blame him for it but the truth is, you know, this country's been heading in a direction that it needs to change for a long time. now president clinton is correct. in his administration, a rising tide did lift a lot more boats than were lifted in the following administration but, you know, i can understand what he's doing. i would, too, if i were defending my legacy. the truth is i think we would be better served by looking forward and trying to figure out how to get out of this problem because this income inequality problem is a real problem and it does have to be dealt with it and won't be dealt with by blaming george bush or bill clinton for it. >> you bring up gop there with george bush. on the gop side, there's this

certain ex-florida governor who may be giving the current new jersey one a run for his money here. we have the "new york times" reporting that jeb bush's increasingly serious and public consideration of a 2016 run has some major republican donors considering jumping the chris christie ship. if that happened, howard, tell me what would that mean for christie? would it mean curtains for him? >> i think christie's already seeing the curtains. he's a tough guy from new jersey, he doesn't want to admit what he sees and i don't blame him for that. but the problem for chris christie is not whether he's guilty or not -- although obviously if he ends up being guilty of something that will be a huge problem. the problem is he's under two or three investigations. so the first question for every big republican donor is why would i give my money to chris christie who has to defend himself every press conference for two years while he's getting ready to run for president when i can find a moderate alternative? and there are several and i think jeb bush is one of them. jeb bush's problem is that he has, since he's left office, said a lot of things that happen to be true but you shouldn't say

them in politics and come across as more moderate. and the problem with coming across as more moderate is it helps you in the general election but it's not easy to get through the primary. so i think you'll see rick perry hold the right wing banner and he'll be good at it. everybody's pooh-poohing him because he forgot a few things in the debate. i wouldn't cut rick perry out at all. i think he'd be a dreadful president but he's a slick politician and he'll raise a ton of money and he'll be a formidable adversary to any moderate. >> i want to throw up a "wall street journal"/nbc news poll that shows 9% 69% of americans believe we should have more than two families. >> i agree with that. >> do you think there's a weariness on both sides. is this something both parties are not taking into consideration? >> you know, the thing is that at the end of the day people are going to judge you for what they think -- who they think you are when they see you.

so it's true that both the clinton and bush family will have this stuff around them as the condition di family still does two generations after president kennedy's and robert kennedy's death. but the truth is they actually end up judging you for who you are and especially when you're running for president. you're going to have ample opportunity to examine these two folks if they end up getting the nominations of their respective parties and people are going to make up their mind of what they think of hillary clinton or jeb bush, not which family they came from in minute at the end of the day. >> okay, former governor howard dean. do not stay away so long. see you again soon. >> thanks. it might be the single-biggest region for the nation's stalled economic growth, but what will get it moving again? that's next. . [male announcer] ortho crime files. disturbing the pantry. a house, under siege. say helto home defense max. kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max.

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california crime shines bright in the kentucky derby! >> there you go. a horse with humble beginnings

is the winner of the 140th kentucky derby. california chrome pulled away from the pack down the stretch to win by 1-3/4. he's the first california bred horse in 52 years to win the first leg of the triple crown. up next, the preakness. new numbers show the economy moving forward but not by much. the department of commerce says that gross domestic product increased only 0.1% in the first quarter and "washington post" financial reporters are joining me now. glad to have you here. thanks for being here and joining me. we've had really a horrible winter across the united states when you look at certain things. the blizzards, below-freezing temperatures left and right certainly and not the norm. so how much impact does have on the gdp, the weather? >> we knew the weather was going to have a major impact during the first quarter. economists were already predicting something like a 1% growth rate, but what it turned out to be was actually even worse than that. we saw a growth increase only by 0.1%. and that's not a mixup in the decimal places, right?

that's a really bad number that showed the economy stagnated. there's even indications from data that's been released since then the economy may have contracted in the first quarter. so that raises the question whether was it actually just the cold winter or is there something more fundamental going on that's causing the economy to just simply not be able to fire on all cylinders? >> but we should say .1 is better than the opposite direction. so do you see the potential here for further growth? things moving higher in the upcoming year? >> well, there is some sense already that things are getting better. so for the second quarter, economists are estimating growth around 3.6%. obviously that's a much bigger number than we saw in the first quarter and we had very good numbers out of the labor department on friday showing that hiring much stronger than expected in april. that's a good sign. but it seems like every time that we have good news in this recovery, it always comes with a caveat. so you're finding that housing which people thought was going to be a real driver of growth

this year, that's so far not really giving us the oomph that we need. you're finding people not entering the labor force at the same rate that we would like to see them. a lot of young people instead of looking for summer jobs or things like that, they're simply delaying their job search. so we're not sure if they're going to start entering the market. so there's always a lot of reason to be concerned. but there is some hope that things are getting better. >> those job numbers were pretty good. 288,000? >> 288, 000 jobs created in april. and as you said, we'd rather have jobs created than lost but the decline in unemployment rate was not necessarily driven by job growth but because people were not entering the labor force so we saw the work force shrink. >> give me the perspective, the takeaway for the average consumer on this. >> average consumer should know that things are getting better but it's a slow grind. just the same way it's been since we started this recovery back in 2009. >> good to see you. thank you so much. 'twas the night of wit and

wisdom at the white house correspondents dinner. but did the presidential punch lines hit the mark? >> what if your yearly checkup came with tickets to a clippers game? [ laughter ] not the old don sterling clippers, the new oprah clippers. [ laughter ]

>> welcome back to "weekends with alex wit." the los angeles clippers have reason to celebrate today. a big win advances the team until the nba playoffs. good news as they try to keep banned owner donald sterling and the scandal surrounding his racist remarks behind them. >> i just thought this team really needed the game. i mean, honestly, i just wanted us to win the game. not because of the -- not winning last year. i just thought with all this stuff this team just needed this

win. >> the drama continues off the court. the nba announced they're looking to appoint a new ceo for the team and sterling's wife says she supports the league's decision. what happens next? joining me now, attorney for the national sports authority, everett glenn. welcome, glad you're here. >> thank you for having me. a pleasure. >> sir, what can the nba do? can they appoint a new ceo to run the team without donald sterling's support? >> absolutely. under the nba constitution and bylaws i think the real interest is donald sterling's interest. they can terminate his interest. they can't force the family, it's owned in a trust, to sell the team but they surely is the power to terminate his interest. >> as you know and i mentioned here sterling's wife shelly is on board with the takeover. she released a statement that says in part "i spoke with commissioner adam silver this week to tell him i fully supported his recent swift and

decisive action. as a co-owner, i'm fully committed to taking the necessary steps to make the clippers the best team in the nba." but certainly her estranged husband, if you will, they're widely expected to have him fight the nba's ruling in court. he's known to be very, very litigious. how would that work? >> well, the commissioner has wide and broad discretion in this matter and, again, i think the reason why donald sterling's wife is appearing to cooperate is because, again, they can force donald sterling to sell his interest. they can't force the trust to sell the team but i think that's not the real issue with donald sterling. the real issue -- that's the symptom. but the problem is this per sis tent and lingeri ining racism. and we're at the intersection of race, sports, and money and forcing donald sister tloing sell a team is not going to address the underlying reasons,

the causes for that, which are the stereotyping of young black men and the underlying channeling of them into sports and athletics as opposed to doctors and lawyers. >> i'm curious if you think shelly sterling's support makes the case for selling the team stronger for the nba? there are concerns about the league's bylaws. they don't have a specific article that applies to ousting an owner over issues of character. so in terms of their legal ground for forcing sterling out, could he produce a valid argument against it? >> well, i would -- i beg to differ, they, in fact, do have a morals clause. any member who's found to either say or endorse comments that are detrimental or presidential to the best interests of basketball or the nba can be fined and any owner or member whose conduct so it's worth what you say and what you do can be the basis of --

and the three quarters vote is the protection for these owners. it's not an arbitrary kind of decision. you have to get three quarters of the other owners to agree that forcing them to sell even because they can by -- by two-thirds vote they can waive whatever penalty is imposed. >> well, you're right, the morals clause does put this under that umbrella, i should think. this morning l.a. mayor eric garcetti addressed the possibility of a boycott or a boycott by certain players or a walkout. let's take a listen to that. >> i think the players are the ones that have the burden of this and they aren't going to want to play for somebody knowing that the money that they're generating for that individual goes into the sorts of attitudes. >> so what if this whole case gets tied up in court for months or even longer. how does this hurt the team? how does it hurt the brand or the nba? >> well, mayor garcetti's

comments i find quite interesting because the issue not donald sterling. the issue the intersection of race and sports and money. in los angeles, for example, over the past ten years, 92% of all contracts -- which is our money, he's speaking about the players paying a guy in has these racist attitudes but in los angeles 92% of all the money spent has been spent with white men who represent 14% of the population. so i don't know that the mayor should be the one weighing in on this and the same thing in sacramento. the owner of the sacramento kings. they're building a new arena in sacramento with very it will until any participation. so we're at this intersection and i can see clearly that we have an opportunity and the opportunity is to look beyond the symptom and let's address the cause and the cause is what's happening to these young men and at the national sports authority, www.nsa.org we're

developing programs and strategies to stop that. >> good. well, bravo, well done. we're glad you're doing that and we thank you so much, attorney everett glen. thanks. >> thank you for having me. it was a big party here in washington last night. president obama along with hollywood a-listers, politicians and journalists came together for the white house correspondents dinner. the event was filled with punch lines and the evening's headliner comedian joel mchale turned his signature wit on the president himself. >> thanks to obamacare -- or as the president refers to it, mecare -- [ laughter ] millions of newly insured young americans can visit a doctor's office and see what a print magazine actually looks like. [ laughter ] >> despite her late night antics, nbc's kristen welker is joining me from the white house. good day to you, kristen. it was fun to see you. >> it was a fun event and great to see you. that is great tradition that dates back a long time. back to 1920.

it's a chance for journalists to have outside of work to talk to celebrities but this year was a bit different because it was the 100th anniversary of the white house correspondents' association. a time-honored washington tradition. oscar winner lupita nyong'o, olympian lindsay vaughn just a few of the big names turnsing up for dinner. >> this is an opportunity for media to meet hollywood to meet politics. >> and his storally a chance for the commander-in-chief to give back some of the heat he's taken. >> let's face it, fox, you'll miss me when i'm gone. [ laughter ] it will be harder to convince the american people that hillary was born in kenya. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: a little self-depprication as well. >> in 2008, my slogan was idea yes, we can." in 2013 my slogan was "control, alt, delete."

[ laughter ] >> reporter: headliner nbc's joel mchale didn't spare anyone but may have saved some of his most searing lines for new jersey governor chris christie. >> governor, do you want bridge jokes or size jokes because i got a bunch of both, i can go half and half. i know you'd like a combo platter. [ laughter ] >> there was a serious side to this night. the correspondents' association marking its centennial, celebrating an increasingly diverse group of journalists and naming a new scholarship in the name of the first african-american white house correspondent, harry mcalpine. and the night largely went off without a hitch with the exception of one technical glitch. >> the joke doesn't work without the slide. [ laughter ] oh, well. assume that it was funny. >> now, some have criticized the dinner saying that it's too focused on celebrities but we should point out, alex, that several awards were given out last night and every year to journalists and also scholarships to aspiring journalists. >> absolutely. hey, i want to bring up a picture about this babe in blue

from last night. whoa! that was you! >> there it is. that's the dress. that's the dress, alex. [ laughter ] >> phenomenal dress, don't we love talking about the dresses? to that end i have to show -- >> let's see it. >> that's with senator casey. look at this dress. i just love the dress. it was so fun. i got ronan pharaoh, too. >> you looked fantastic. you looked fantastic and it was such a treat to have you here. >> it was the dress. >> it's all about the dress. such a treat to have you here in d.c. >> i'm so glad to be here. and that dress, jenny packham, wow. >> rick perry is talking about the botched execution in oklahoma. what did he say and what does the big three think about it? that's next. up to 38% more than allergy medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. top of the mornin' to you, sir. this is no time for lollygaggin', lad.

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time for the big three. today's topics, botched execution, sterling's twists and this week's must-reads. let's bring in my big three panel. political analyst and grio.com

contributor zer lena maxwell. jonathan ator is also the author of "the center holds" available this paper back this week which is exciting and professor of political science at hiram college, jason johnson. good to see you all. we'll go ladies first, how's that. zerlina, let's go to the botched execution because the next prisoner to be executed is robert james campbell. it will happen in texas. scheduled for next week. governor rick perry discussed the death panel on this morning's "meet the press." here he is. >> in texas for a substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our police officers, for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the death penalty. >> was this in humane? >> i don't know whether it was inhumane or not but it was botched. >> so campbell's attorney say that they're going try to use the oklahoma case to win him a reprieve. do you think oklahoma will change up anything?

>> i hope so and i think that the last person i want to hear from from on the death penalty is the governor who oversaw really likely the execution of an innocent man in 2004, cameron todd willingham. so rick perry is not the person i'm looking to to talk about this in a very serious way because i think oklahoma really needs to look in the mirror here because really what happened was the human science experiment. and there is no way you can look at the facts of this case and what happened this week and say that what happened was humane. >> okay, the president, as you know, jonathan, said in his press conference yesterday that he is going to -- on friday, rather, that he will discuss with a.g. eric holder about what steps might be taken. what steps might those be and how do you think president obama really feels about the death penalty. >> i think he's evolving on this issue way he did on same-sex marriage and i actually without any evidence, direct evidence, i believe that if you look at the things that he said in new yo

york -- in illinois when he was coming up in politics he's probably against the death penalty except perhaps for terrorists because he realizes not only there have there been botched executions before but numerous cases of people on death row in illinois and other states who didn't do it. and we almost executed them and some of them we did execute. also the other thing that this horrific case brings to mind is everybody's going oh, isn't it terrible the way this was botched. it is cruel and unusual punishment but so is the execution. so people who are so upset about the botched execution are not upset able killing people. and justice john paul stevens, just one other thing, alex, has a new book out and he says that the constitution should be amended so when it talks about

cruel and unusual punishment it says including execution. >> jason, yesterday we spoke with a reporter from the "tulsa world" who witnessed the execution and here's what she said about the reaction in oklahoma. >> are received a majority of reaction. people saying what about the the victim? i don't care if the inmate felt pain. so did his victim. many people are troubled. they want this carried out lawfully. >> you know, that's a legitimate issue. you could say more concern is being sean for clayton lockett than he showed for his victim. >> he killed somebody and helped other people bury her alive. they need to do this in an organized fashion not in a cheap way they are trying to combine chemicals because they can't find the resources. they denied him his final meal

because it was over the $15 limit. at least do this in a way that's organized and consistent. that's the problem. there are terrible people who are terrorists, rapists but do it in an organized fashion. oklahoma the didn't do it. >> one other thing real quick. you have libertarians who believe the government messes up everything it touches except the death penalty. the if they believe government messeses things up clearly innocent people are being executed. >> i want to get right now to the donald sterling and the clippers issue. let's listen to what with the l.a. mayor said. >> i think he is proud of his journey. it's part of the american dream to come from nothing be a billionaire. i don't think he realizes the sting of the remarks for people to have over come so much to be

african-american in this country and face the racism. >> what do you think? do you give sterling the benefit of the doubt that he doesn't realize the gravity of his remarks? >> i don't. i don't care what he think it is gravity of the remarks are. it's not here what he said but what his actions are. he has a real history of real dim nation, not just are racist rhetor rhetoric. discriminating against mexicans and blacks and his wife are what's troubling and why he needed to be reare moved from the the head of the clippers. you can't have someone who with behaves in this manner being in control of black players. >> we'll have to leave it there. the must reads are next. .yea dulcolax tablets can cause cramps but not phillips. it has magnesium and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. for gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation that works! mmm mmm live the regular life.

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we are back now with the big three for the must reads. >> my must read of the week is the new york times article on

two act vis working to combat campus sexual assault and the white house report are released this week after a year-long effort on their part to raise awareness of this problem and make sure we need the to get to the the point where we are with ending this problem. >> that's a timely pick. thanks for that. jonathan? >> an article by michael kinsley in the new yorker called "are have you lost your mind." it's partly about his examination of his own brain after having had parkinson's disease for a number of years. it's about all of the baby boorms getting older. all of oh us get a little bit panicked. losing a step or two mentally. he deals with that in a funny and -- >> my article is "may the fourth

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