. i'm not a doctor. what i do know is that the issue's going to come up as it does for any person running for president. >> are rep republicans shoring their cards? mers virus, the deadly infection that has killed more than 170 people overseas has now been transmitted from person to person within the u.s. we're going to have the very latest. and season finale, leave it to "snl" to clear the air on jay-z and salange. i've never had a problem in the past. hey, everyone, 9:00 a.m. here in los angeles. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we begin with the new fallout

from the va scandal and this troubling crisis. pressure mounts, and continues to do so on eric shinseki to step down. it was the undersecretary who resigned, however, critics called him a scapegoat, saying he was due to retire soon anyway. meantime, in an interview this morning, white house chief of staff talked about president obama's reaction to all of this. >> the president is madder than hell. and i've got the cards to prove it. we're digging into this to find out if this is a series of isolated cases or whether this is a systemic issue that we need to address with wholesale reform. we're not going to stop making this better, because that's exactly what our veterans deserve. >> but mcdonough defended shinseki saying, quote, he will continue to work these issues

until they are fixed. and reaction from an iraq and afghanistan veteran. >> should we ask for shinseki's resignation, and i don't jump on that bandwagon. this has gone from an incompetent and backlog to something criminal. i think it is time for shinseki to resign. >> hospital administrators is accused of cooking the books and delaying care to american veterans. welcome back to the broadcast. glad to see you. >> thank you, alex. thank you. >> so, let's talk about from what you know at this point. should secretary shinseki keep his job? >> you know, clearly there's a systemic problem here. it's very distressing to see what was in the dayton daily news, saying these delays have been going back as far as 2001.

and i appreciate that the president and the secretary are as mad as hell, but it's going to take more than anger to get solutions. i want action and answers and i want to keep the focus on our veterans. this is about making sure that our veterans get timely, quality care that they have earned. >> okay. when you talk about actions, i don't know if this is a substantive answer, but it is important to know that the undersecretary was already going to retire this year. the president had already named his successor. do you perceive that to be a hollow gesture? >> i think it's a step in the right direction. there does have to be accountability. i know as a former prosecutor how important it is to take action based on facts. while resignations may be in the works in the long term, right now, we've got to keep our focus on getting our veterans the care they need. i was in flagstaff yesterday for our armed forces parade, and i talked to hundreds of veterans

who have stories similar to this or who are on waiting lists and we have to find solutions. it's about people, not about politics, and i want answers and action. >> how about from the president's perspective, his response? has that been adequate? >> you know, saying your angry is not good enough. there's get to be some accountability here. we've got to get to the bottom. what's most distressing to me is that we're now finding out this is systemic and it's going on for a long time. as ranking member of oversight investigation, i thought that it could be systemic. that's why a couple of weeks ago i asked for a full audit of the whole system. but i want that to be a thorough and complete audit. there was news in the committee meeting last week that it might be available in three weeks. that's not good enough. let's get to the bottom of this. >> there was something that the secretary said at the senate hearing this past week, which struck me. he said his position was, quote, not a job, and that he was there to accomplish a mission. do you think that sort of

instead fastness is the right attitude for a crisis like this? >> we have to fight for ow veterans with all our might, because they already paid the price for us. in a lot of regards it is like a mission. i mentioned that veterans i talked to op the parade route yesterday, and they remember fighting together, for freedom. and now they're fighting together again to get the benefits that they've already earned. >> yes. with regard, though, to resignations, is that something that will make a palpable difference for you? i'm sure you've heard of my colleague who said in some ways he believes that the entire va system could be scrapped. it is not working. it is behemoth, it is a huge systemic problem that we have. >> it is. >> how do you tackle this? >> it clearly is a huge systemic problem. the problem with calling for resignations right now without the complete report and the facts is that it starts to get into the political realm.

look, this is not about campaigns or elections. again, it's about people. and our veterans and making sure they get the care they need. i want us to stay focused on that and not get side tracked with the politics involved. >> i want to get back to the 2001 problems that you mentioned at the top here. there's a story that we saw this morning, according to an investigation, conducted by the dayton daily news, the va appears to have settled many cases involving delays in medical care, both voluntarily, also as part of a court order. the investigation claims the va has in fact paid out $36 million to settle those claims since 2001. what to you make of that? >> alex, this is so distressing. i was devastated when i heard this this morning. again, this shows this is a systemic problem, going back tens of years. so why are we just now dealing with this? i want action. i want answers. i want solutions. >> i'm sure you're going to keep calling for that. we hope you get them. don't we all, right? >> yes. >> ann, thank you so much. good to see you.

>> thank you. more politics. jeb bush at a potential presidential run. he gave the commencement address this weekend at a christian liberal arts college in pennsylvania, saying, quote, if you feel inspired to serve your fellow citizens, don't let the ugliness of politics keep you from pursuing public office. there's always room for informed, engaged, passionate leaders at every level of government. former vice president dick cheney weighed in today. >> jeb's a great guy. been a good governor. i think he's seriously considering it. and that's certainly another one that ought to be on the list of prospective candidates. >> and those comments come on the heels of former secretary of state condoleezza rice who said this past week that she hopes jeb bush runs for president. a break for crews battling the wildfires raging here in southern california since last tuesday. calmer winds and cooler temperatures are helping them get the upper hand on a dozen fires that have scorched more

than 25,000 acres near san diego. >> relatively under control. you never know. depends on the weather. today, tomorrow, next week. so, yes, it's under control for the moment. but we're in a very serious fire season, more serious than we've seen before. we have to watch and be very careful. >> meantime, the last of tens of thousands of residents evacuated have been allowed to return home. the lucky ones find their homes escaped the flames. >> between the fire and our house, happy to come back and have everything we worked hard for. >> nbc's jennifer bjordland is joining us live north of san diego. let's talk about the situation there today. we were talking yesterday. the temperatures i think are certainly helping matters today. >> reporter: absolutely, alex. in fact, it's cooler this morning.

it was downright cold at sunrise. we're tired of the gray, foggy weather, may and june are typically very foggy, but already we've had those hot late, july, august temperatures that caused a lot of this wreckage that we've seen around in san diego county. the weather pattern that we don't usually see until later in the year. i read something this morning about cal fire saying, normally they have 800 fires by now. they've had 1,500 fires in the state. they've been very busy. right here at fire camp the crews are demobilizing. a lot of them are being released and sent back to their counties, the strike teams that came in as mutual aid are being released for a little r & r here. at the height, this series of fires had 30,000 people

evacuated within one day. and all but just a handful of homes are being repopulated right now. they expect to lift all the evacuation orders by later this afternoon. and that's really good news here at the fire front lines in san diego county, north county, where they're finally getting a little bit of a break. alex? >> okay. let's hope all these fires are put out and extinguished soon. now the developments involving the nearly 300 nigerian school girls held by boko haram. their families and supporters continue to insist the nigerian government is not doing enough to find the girls who have been held more than a month now. the same sentiment was ek code this morning on the sunday talk shows. >> i think there are real problems with the nigerian government and the nigerian military, because there was notice that this was going to happen. the military did nothing.

boko haram has burned down 300 girls' schools. the government has done nothing. so if you do nothing, in the face of terror, it does one thing, it brings on more terror. >> those sentiments come as nigeria's president addressed this. bill neely joins us from the capital of abuja. did anything come out of that summit, and what has been the reaction there in nigeria? >> reporter: yes, nigeria's president is on his way back from that summit in which there was a great deal of tough talk. i think the senator put her finger on it. the whole issue is, what will they do. because up to now, it looks like they've done nothing. there were two main issues, one obviously trying to free the school girls. that is entirely nigeria's responsibility.

so far, of course, there's been no progress on finding them. the second one was declaring war and crushing boko haram. the five countries, well, they said they greed on certain things, for example, the issue of borders, to seal their borders more effectively, to share intelligence across borders, to have joint patrols, and so on. but these armies have no history of cooperating or sharing intelligence. this will be a tough mountain to climb and we'll have to see whether they do that. meanwhile, as they talked, boko haram acted. in the last 24 hours, across the cameroon, nigeria, border boko haram kidnapped 11 chinese workers from a construction site in cameroon, and killed about 40 villagers, across the border in nigeria. as for the girls themselves, well, no sign of them. of course, there was a report today from -- in a british

newspaper that boko haram may be considering releasing some of the girls, that it may have dropped its demand for its prisoners to be released. and the newspaper cited sources close to boko haram. really, there is no proof that any of that is likely. in fact, it doesn't smack of the way boko haram operates. so it's not very hopeful here. the only hope is that after all these weeks, that somehow the u.s. surveillance planes may come up with something. there may be some local intelligence on the ground. after all, it's very hard to have 230 girls in your hands. you have to feed them. you have to make sure that their welfare is taken care of. so the only hope really of finding them is that some clue will emerge in the next week or few weeks that will lead the nigerian troops to these girls. so all talk yesterday, now we need to see some action.

>> let's hope it all happens sooner rather than later. thank you very much. experimental drugs no longer out of reach for the terminally ill in one state. will this save lives. fred flintstone smoking? the old commercial used to illustrate a point in a new documentary about food in america. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses.

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he doesn't want patients to die knowing there may have been a drug in existence to help them that they couldn't have. >> for certain patients, this is the last hope. and so i think it's worthwhile that we give them this chance, and this choice to make that decision. >> and joining me now, dr. yoram goru, from johns hopkins university in baltimore. i'm glad to speak with you about this, doctor. colorado is not alone, sir. we also have missouri, louisiana, poised to take similar actions. do you agree with those actions? >> thank you for having me, alex. so i think everybody needs to appreciate that this is a really tragic situation. some of these patients, as you mentioned, are at the end of their life. they've exhausted all current options. really, they're looking for any type of hope to extend their lives. i'd be careful, though, because

bypassing the current regulations that are in place to make sure that the drugs that we use are safe and effective is a little dangerous. just because a drug may help one individual, doesn't necessarily mean that it will help others. in fact, it can cause harm. and there's very good examples of this. about 20 years ago, there was a trial that was looking at the role for using patients' own stem cells who had breast cancer. in the early details it was very compelling. it suggested that there was some benefit to this. so many people who had breast cancer and many patient advocates who were quite vocal and pushed for it to be used on a more widespread basis, unfortunately it panned out that stem cell transplant for breast cancer patients ended up harming many patients, including some people died. this is a perfect example of, we have a situation where we're trying to do something compassionate, but it ends up backfiring. what's aimed to help those people who need it the most, people who are dying of their

disease, can end up having serious repercussions. >> may i speak with you, though, about the people who are dying of their disease? this is not being put forth to those who, you know, have a fighting chance. isn't it really for people in end stages of their lives? why not, as the colorado governor said, give them something that allows them to at least explore the possibility of extending their lives, when otherwise it's pretty certain that they will be dying soon. >> you're exactly correct. the way that the bill is drafted, it states that this is meant for terminally ill patients. i think there's also a little bit too much leverage as far as determining who's terminally ill. as the bill is written, it says it's up to the individual's treating physician's call. yes, although i assume most people would agree what patient is terminally is, that they've

exhausted the current options. the concern is, we need to be very careful in making sure that we're using drugs that are only safe and effective. i think in my mind, a better option would be maybe revamping the way that some of the clinical trials currently exist for patients in this situation. and let me give you an example of that. right now, drugs have to go through multiple phases. first, we test them in phase one trials to make sure the dose is appropriate and they're safe and effective, and these can take years to go through. and terminally ill patients may not have that amount of time. i think when we're faced with patients indeed at the end of their lives and exhausted all current options, maybe doing the classic way where patients are randomized, one person gets the experimental drug, one person gets the current standard of care, maybe we allow two or three patients to get the experimental drug for every patient who gets the controlled drug. maybe we should have easier

crossover points and have not as rigid statistical end points. and that way i think we could probably have a more happy medium. i would be very, very careful and caution us not to bypass the current regulations that are in place to make sure the drugs are safe. >> but interestingly, here's what the fda on friday declined to take any position on the state right to try bills. the agency said, it is concerned about any efforts that might undermine the, quote, congressionally mandated authority and agency mission to protect the public from therapies that are not safe and effective. so that is echoing your sentiments to some degree. but is that statement more relevant to protecting the fda and their mission, or giving, again, terminally ill patients the right to try something that may offset the inevitable? >> i don't think so. i know people at the fda. i know what the regulations say. i know what they are meant to

do. they are meant, really, to make sure the drugs are safe and effective. i don't think this is the fda trying to cover itself. sometimes people ask the fda to approve a drug, the fda will grant that. the problem is, that takes time. this is by no means a perfect situation. no, i don't think this is the fda trying to protect itself at the expense of patients who are dying. this is a tragic situation. i think everybody understands that. as a pediatric oncologist, i take care of children, some of whom are -- have been in these situations, and this is a difficult, difficult time. but i would caution us, again, not to bypass these regulations, because they're there for a good reason. i just think we need to think outside the box and come up with a better variation. >> all right. doctor, i'm glad for the discussion. thank you so much. >> thank you, alex. it was a pleasure. >> thanks. was jill abramson treated

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at 31 past the hour, a new investigation of mers patients here in the u.s. we have the first case of mers, or middle east respiratory syndrome passed from person to person. the cdc said an illinois man tested positive. maggie fox, senior health writer for nbc news.com joins us with the latest on the investigation. maggie, welcome to you. this mers stuff can be scary. it is called middle east respiratory syndrome. here's the scary part. it has the mortality rate of about 30%. take us through the next part of this investigation. >> the whole investigation demonstrates to us how much health officials still don't know about mers. they think it has a mortality rate of 30%, but this is what they're trying to determine. this particular case illustrates why it's still so mysterious, because this person appears to have been infected without ever having gotten sick.

he's also someone who had casual, yet close cob tact with the person who did get sick. they'll try to find out if there are any more of what they call these oh consult nonsymptom cases. about 20% of the cases of mers have been asymptomatic, they've maybe had a mild cold but they barely remembered it. there are two phases of testing. all 50 people who have been in contact with this patient have had sputum tested, tested for actual infection. now they're getting blood tests. that's why this case turned up where he's infected but not sick. >> it doesn't make a lot of sense some people can be affected and barely remember having a cold. then as many as 30% believed to die from it. i mean, is there anything that's explaining why there's that difference? >> this is a respiratory virus.

they all act like this. flu behaves like this, too. you can be uneffected with flu and be fairly sick or be a perfectly healthy person and die from the flu. middle eastern respiratory virus has only been around for two years. doctors aren't really sure exactly how it behaves yet. it appears that if you get really very sick, then there is a 30% mortality rate. that's serious. right now, the cdc says that's enough to make us take this very seriously. we want to track down every single person who may have been infected. make sure they're not getting sick and make sure they're not infecting other people. >> that's the big question as to how that happens. because maggie, i'm looking at the reports from the illinois man and it says he shook hands with someone who suffered from mers. now, is it something that can be transmitted via touch or simply airborne as a respiratory illness? >> they don't know for sure exactly how it's transmitted. that's why the world health organization when it declared

concern earlier this week, and the cdc when they raised the level of concern, that it's not a health alert yet, but that they're still concerned. do you have to breathe on someone or actually touch someone? in saudi arabia it was definitely prolonged personal close contact. these were health care workers who were intensively caring for a patient, possibly intube eighting them. or family members caring for them. apparently this business meeting where the transmission may have taken place, they were talking face to face for 40 minutes or more. not simply a handshake. >> maggie fox, thank you very much for explaining that. appreciate it. it is gearing up to a super tuesday of sorts. that's because six states will hold primaries this tuesday, including the primary candidate mitch mcconnell.

jonathan is the author of the center holds, obama and its enemies. political reporter for "u.s. news & world report" lauren fox. good to see both of you. >> good to see you. >> jonathan, i'll begin with you. what races are you keeping tabs on and what could they mean for the midterms? >> i don't think any of these races are hugely in important in control of the u.s. senate. mitch mcconnell is going to cruise to victory in the primary on tuesday. the big issue for him is the general election, where he's going to face democrat allison grimes, and this is going to be the most expensive race in american history. $100 million might be spent on this one senate race, in a state without very expensive media markets. the more important thing about super tuesday for me, alex, is that the primaries now are drawn to an end.

and what that means is that although there's some that have their primaries in september, for the most part, the tea party threat, which continues to have a stranglehold over action in washington, will recede for perhaps long enough for the president and john boehner to maybe get a few things done. which is what the american people want now. none of that could take place until the shadow of these tea party challenges to republican candidates was lifted. and we're now almost at that point. >> yeah. you talk about the tea party receding somewhat. to you, lauren, you have matt bevin who we think is 30 points behind in the polls, but he's likely to go down. what happened to matt bevin, because he was such the tea party darling? >> it was a campaign that didn't get off to a good start.

there were issues about his involvement in cockfighting in the state which is still very controversial. there were some issues in terms of him just not being able to get out his message in the way that a tea party candidate needs to. in order to fight somebody like minority leader mitch mcconnell, who will have a powerful campaign and is well known for being battle tested in these primary races. i think that was one of the things that matt bevin did not get off to a very good start. >> jonathan, republicans are certainly intent on taking control of the senate. and that could put mitch mcconnell, if he wins, ultimately back in control of the senate were that to happen. how are their chances looking right now? >> you know, different people grade it different ways. i put it about 50/50 right now. the thing that might mitigate against them getting control of the senate is the economy is getting better. there are signs that economic growth is picking up. and remember, in 2010, unemployment was at 10% when the

republicans took the house. this fall, it's going to be closer to, you know, 6%. that's a big difference. so if economic trends continue to, you know, improve, it could give the democrats a little bit of hope. but here's the problem for democrats. turnout in midterms is significantly lower. 50 million fewer people vote in midterms. and most of those stay-at-home voters, or nonvoters are democrats. if the democrats can't get them to turn out this year, they will lose control. >> yeah. okay. we're going to have some girl talk here, which means i'm going to you, lauren. we'll talk about "new york times" publisher defending the firing of jill abramson, saying that his decision had nothing to do with his company's treatment of women but rather abramson's

style. i decided that jill could no longer remain as executive editor for reasons having nothing to do with pay or gender. my paramount duty is so ensure the quality of "the new york times." with great regret i concluded her management of the newsroom was simply not working out. look, this story is raising a lot of questions, lauren, about equal pay, treatment of women. so what do you make of this whole situation? >> well, i think that there's still going to be a lot of details to come out of this situation we have not heard. and we have not heard from jill abramson herself. but what i will say is stepping back, this means that women have come a long ways in the workplace. that there was so much backlash, that there were so many people talking about this. i think it's really promising in terms of not just women in journalism, but women across many career spectrums. i think this is a really promising development. you know, the situation which jill abramson may not be, but

the backlash is certainly something that women everywhere should be looking to as progress. >> we haven't heard from her vocally. but for her part, it seems she was hitting back to some degree in a photo on her daughter's instagram page the day after she was fired and there was the #pushy. listen to what carly had to say about "the new york times" on "meet the press." >> she's been a distinguished reporter for "the new york times," and editor for three years. there is not a single word in her departure announcement about her contributions, about her record, about her time at "the new york times." she is excised from history. no more lectures, please, from "the new york times" about the treatment of women. arthur salsburger, the more he talks, the more clear it becomes to me of course she was treated differently. whatever the issues in the newsroom were, the dynamics around her departure would not have been the same for a man. >> so, jonathan, i'm going to ask you both for your reaction

into how this has played out. the fact is you're a prominent journalist. we know a lot of people who work at "the new york times." you know more about the process. have you heard anything about jill awramson or her style or complaints from friends? you don't need to be specific, but is there something indicated she had a management problem? >> i have to say at the outset that i've known jill for 38 years. we go back a long way. and i'm a great admirer of hers. i agree with carly fiorina, that it is really regrettable that her great contributions to "the new york times" have not been noted. they won, i think, eight pulitzer prize in the years she was there. we always win a lot of pulitzer's, but it was not like the depar tur of harold rains years ago. there was a plagiarism scandal that led to his departure.

the paper is and will continue to be the greatest newspaper in the world by a long shot. i don't think any educated person can really say that they don't read "the new york times." let me just lay that out. there have been some management issues with jill abramson. you know, she has rubbed some people the wrong way. whether that led to the necessitating her departure, seems like a reach to me. it looks like it's office politics where the new editor of the paper, dean, felt like he was blindsided on the appointment of a new assistant managing editor, deputy managing editor. that's just office politics, which really should not have crowded out her contributions to the paper. i agree the backlash is very positive. because it puts other employers on warning, treat your women employees right. >> okay. which i'm sure lauren will agree with as well.

lauren and jonathan, great talking as always. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> thank you, alex. new signs that donald sterling is digging in his heels more than ever for the right of ownership of the l.a. clippers. to coffee, snacks, and drinks to fuel the big ideas. yes, staples has everything you need to launch a startup from your garage. mom! except permission to use the garage. thousands of products added every day to staples.com. even safety cones. this week, get maxwell house® original roast ground coffee for $5.99. staples. make more happen. [ male announcer ] momentum has a way of quietly exploding onto the scene. ♪ the new ram 1500 ecodiesel. with 28 highway miles per gallon,

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when you fell from heaven (awkward laugh) ...a little.. (laughs) im sorry, i have to go. at&t is building you a better network. the latest on donald sterling now, following his racist remarks. sterling now has a new lawyer, and appears ready to launch what could be a long and contentious legal battle. he's already refusing to pay the $2.5 million fine that nba commissioner adam silver levied on him, and fighting his lifetime ban. "usa today" sports contributor, josh. sterling has reportedly hired this veteran maxwell bleacher who represented him over moving the clippers from san diego to l.a. so what does that tell you about his next moves? >> it appears he's digging in for a fight.

i don't think he's going to cave in easily here. obviously the nba is trying to force the sale. and try to fine him $2.5 million. he's resisting. i think you're seeing he's in for the long haul when it comes to a fight. >> can he just not pay that mopmop money? >> he's at risk of violating issues with the nba and putting himself at risk of giving up his team. >> the fact is, he wanted to move his team, and he got to move his team from san diego to los angeles. so what does that say about his ability to use the court of law to his favor? >> well, he prevailed in that fight. but it would be pure speculation at this point to see what would happen with this case in this situation. >> okay. let's look at what's happening on the court. we have the clippers gotten knocked out of the nba play-offs. the star, blake griffin said, it would not be, quote, ideal still owning the clippers when next season starts. how likely is it that this is

going to be resolved by the start of the season? >> well, i mean, clearly the nba wants to get this resolved as quickly as possible. and there's a fear that the players are not going to be comfortable coming back unless this is resolved. again, this is all a matter of speb speculation at this point. >> how do you see this playing out, though? do you think we're in for a long protracted court barlt? >> again, it's difficult to say. our focus right now as we recently wrote a story about the ownership of his boyhood home and property across the street. we found that the property is actually listed in the names of his deceased mother and deceased grandmother. >> that's interesting. it brings up the prospect of his wife, shelly, maintaining ownership of the team. is there any likelihood that can happen? or is california one of these communal property states that what happens to him, will have to happen to her? >> right. excellent questions. i think she's expressed some

interest in holding on to part of the team. the nba's made it clear they don't think that's possible, under the rules. but excellent questions. and everybody's waiting on the answers, too. >> okay. josh, we'll come back to you when we have more answers from which to choose, and we'll talk with you then. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. while losing weight may not just be a matter of not enough will power or exercise. (meow mix jingle) right on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh.

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the food industry has been boozeled and hood winked into making us think there are healthy alternatives. >> a new documentary on america's nutrition crisis. the film zeros in on what it calls public enemy number one, the sugar in processed foods and the food industry's unrelenting effort to redirect attention from it. >> there are 600,000 food items in america. 80% of them have added sugar. your brain lights up with sugar

just like it does with cocaine or heroin. >> one of the greatest public health epidemics of our time. >> stephanie, thank you so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> look at what we hear about this. that really considering everything that's in the foods, it's not just a matter of will power. we're trying to exercise an ability to stay away from food like this, it's an addiction. >> one, there's the addiction. as you saw in the clip you do see your brain lights up the same way as it does with drug abuse. also, a calorie is not a calorie. up until now, the industry has told us, you can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise it off. what we found in making the film, the calorie in almonds is not the same as a calorie from soda. the film unravels the sort of mystery thriller, a whodunit, finding out why the great majority of our country is suffering. >> the film talks about the food industry pushing to alter the

dietary guidelines. what's this all about? because those guidelines are supposed to be for our benefit. >> they're more about corporate politics and corporate wealth than public health. we saw this early starting in 1977 when the very first dietary guidelines were put forth. we knew then obesity was going to be a huge problem for this country and we could have prevented it. but the food and beverage industry got involved and demanded a rewrite of those guidelines. we've seen the thing happen throughout the industry. they've gotten so ingrained in how we eat, we've accepted it as common practice. >> yeah. now, we should note that the grocery manufacturers association forcefully pushing back. it calls your film, quote, an inaccurate view of the packaged food industry. it also launched a preemptive publicity campaign ahead of your film. the website claims the following, childhood obesity rates have dropped by as much as

43%. new school meal regulations issued by the usda require fruits and vegetables be offered for students and full fat milk products will be eliminated. in 2006, the beverage makers took out sodas in schools. what made those changes come about in the first place? >> first of all, they're cherry picking the facts. having full calorie soda out of the school, big deal. there's still diet soda, and juice, which has as much sugar as a full calorie soda. then childhood obesity rates have not dropped. >> i was reading that and saying, they can claim that? >> there was a study, and it was debunked a week later because it was clearly flawed. they had a chance to speak to us, and they declined to do so, and i think they're being very cowardly. they're trying to confuse the public with the misleading facts. >> the film makes the comparison

between food and tobacco, and you include a clip of fred flintstone like we've never seen him before. let's take a look at that. >> junk food companies are acting very much like tobacco companies did 30 and 40 years ago. >> years from now, we're going to say, i can't believe we let them get away with that. >> so, obviously you agree with that. let's look at tobacco. tobacco is a harsh thing. the carcinogens and cancer that comes from it, do you think this is a fair comparison? >> i really do. i think we're being easy on the food and beverage industry. now we're seeing slushies sold in schools. we followed a group of families for three years. and we saw what was happening. it's criminal. slushies, milky way bars, fast

food in the school cafeterias. i think soda is the cigarettes of the 21st century. if that's the case, that makes beyonce and taylor swift the new marlboro man. i think we'll look back and say, i can't believe we did this, that they allowed soda in the school. >> on the front line of this philosophy, thank you very much, stephanie. >> thank you. >> good luck with the film. >> thank you. 60 years after brown versus board of education, why the schools are becoming resegregated. ant... i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get the right care and guidance-before and after the baby is born. simple is good right now. (anncr vo) innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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incredible off-the-field moments at the very same game. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." 10:00 a.m. here in los angeles. here's what's happening. we begin with new calls today for va secretary eric shinseki to resign as the va hospital scandal grows. >> there was talk a year ago of should we ask for shinseki's resignation. a group of us were talking about it. i don't jump on the resignation bandwagon, but this has turned into something criminal. i think it's time for shinseki to resign. >> kristen welker is at the white house for us. the president's chief of staff responding as well. what's he saying? >> reporter: alex, he was in damage control mode this morning. chief of staff dennis mcdonough saying that president obama is, quote, mad as hell about the revelations at the va, that he's

determined to get to the bottom of how all of this could have happened. what mcdonough wouldn't comment on, secretary shinseki's testimony this past week, which a number of critics said was tepid, and they were frustrated that he didn't show more anger. mcdonough said that he, the president, is not going to judge testimony. rather, they're interested in judging the results. mcdonough also saying that the white house is dispatching extra staffers to try to get to the bottom of exactly what went wrong at the va, and to try to determine whether or not these problems are systemwide, or if they are just isolated incidents. here's a little bit more of what dennis mcdonough had to say in his own words. >> the president is madder than hell. and i've got the scars to prove it. we've deployed additional staff over to the veterans administration to find out if this is a series of isolated cases or whether this is a systemic issue that we need to address with wholesale reform.

we're not going to stop making this better. because this is exactly what our veterans deserve. >> alex, just to bring you up to date on developments in recent days. undersecretary for health, robert petzel, has resigned after testifying on capitol hill last week. and they're dispatching rob neighbors to work with secretary eric shinseki to try to investigate and determine what went wrong here. now, as you pointed out at the top, there are mounting calls for secretary shinseki to resign. the white house continues to say that president obama has confidence in secretary shinseki. so it doesn't appear he will resign anytime soon. and they're asking president obama to speak out about this publicly. we haven't heard him about the situation and the va for several weeks now. no indications there are plans to do that. but i wouldn't rule that out as

we enter this next week, alex. that's something to watch for. one other political point that i will make. prior to these revelations that as many as 40 veterans may have died waiting to are care at the phoenix location, the 2014 race was really shaping up, at least from the republican standpoint and republican talking points, it appeared they would focus on issues including health care, the economy, benghazi, but now this issue is really going to move to the fore in 2014. i think you'll see it become a major campaign issue. >> i think you're right about that. we have memorial day one week from tomorrow, when we honor those who have fought so valiantly in our wars for us. very timely. >> reporter: absolutely. >> thank you, kristen, from the white house. >> reporter: thank you. retired army general mccaffrey. >> hello, alex. >> should secretary shinseki keep his job? >> oh, without question. there's a huge element of political hysteria driven by that november election coming

up. look, shinseki's a badly wounded combat veteran. he's managed huge complex organizations like the united states army. they've reduced this backlog of claims by 50% since he's been at the va. he's reduced homeless veterans by 24%. this huge va hospital system, 1,700 sites, 85 million appointments a year, gets very high patient satisfaction ratings, i think the problem is it's underresourced. particularly with the primary care physicians. and that comes right back to congress and the amount of resources they apply. i think some of this is political hypocrisy of the worst sort. >> do you, sir, get a sense from veterans you're speaking to have a sentiment like yours, but do they want to see change? >> the american legion, i was ashamed that they called for shinseki's resignation.

i do think, by the way, that there is room for rethinking the va system. beats me why we wouldn't have health credit cards for veterans where they could seek assistance, whether it's mental health care, orthopedic surgery, you name it, from anywhere in the u.s. health care system instead of just from this gigantic 330,000-person organization. i think there's room to rethink it. but shinseki's not the problem, it's resources and management of a world war ii artifact. >> do you concur with our mutual friend, who believes that this system is broken, that it is systemic, huge problem, and he thinks it maybe should be done away with, the va system? >> jack's another badly wounded combat veteran, with some good

viewpoints. i wouldn't want to do away with 1,700 health care delivery sites. i mean, 6.5 million veterans do get care from the va, and by and large, again, their fasht satisfaction surveys from an independent industry, are the highest in the country. so i do think what's happened is, secretary shinseki's put these people under a lot of pressure. he's got a lot more resources out of the obama administration. but when it comes to primary health care, and specialties, this sort of thing, they can't keep up with it. and i'll bet it turns out that some of them were fudging their numbers in a bureaucratic sense. but again, i think part of the problem is shinseki doesn't get excited. doesn't show much emotion as a major in combat in cambodia either. or when he told rumsfeld directly, you don't have enough troops to occupy iraq. he's a very level-headed,

thoughtful combat veteran who's now i think doing a good job at the va. >> one of the things, sir, that makes this such an emotional story, though, for a lot of people is that we have an all volunteer military, less than 1% of americans serve. one of the few things troops are promised when they return from wars is their medical care will be taken care of. overall, is that happening? >> well, i think it is, yeah, sure. i think the iraq/afghanistan veterans, there's almost 3 million of them, we've had some 50,000 killed and wounded fighting in iraq and afghanistan. my guess is, they're the most effective fighting force the country ever produced. they're coming home and seeking help from the va, across a wide variety of causes, to include ptsd and the traumatic brain injury, and new signature injuries from this conflict. but the big load on the va, i might add, alex, is the vietnam veterans. you know, they're hitting their

60s, and they're coming in, and they're struggling with health care issues. so they're really the preponderance of even ptsd claims. that system is not sophisticated and developed enough to handle that load. nor do i think they have enough primary care physicians. so we've got to relook it. again, my guess is, what you do is you preserve and reform va, but you give them a health credit card so they can take it out to the giant u.s. medical infrastructure and seek care in their own state of north carolina, or north dakota, or, you know, where you don't have a va hospital nearby, as you might in chicago or baltimore or wherever. >> all right. general barry mccaffrey, always good to see you. i'm sorry i'm not in the studio to welcome you. good to see you. >> good to see you, alex. an investigative report by the dayton ohio daily news may bring more scrutiny to the

scand scandal. the va settled 161 cases in which delay in treatment is used in the stripgs. the va paid out $36 million to settle those claims either voluntarily or part of a court action. joining me on the phone, josh sweigart. what did you find? >> this dates back to 2001. and we found over 1,100 cases where there was a death that was allegedly due to malpractice over those years. of those -- >> wait, wait, josh, hang on a second. how many did you say? how many deaths? >> specifically, 1,194. >> that is a huge number. attributed for just delayed care? >> no, no, no. those are the numbers of claims brought against the va for malpractice, that resulted in death. >> okay. >> all types of malpractice.

specifically, delay in treatment, that terminology showed up in 167 claims. >> 167, okay. what about the facilities there in ohio? what did you find specifically there? >> we looked at the local va medical center here in dayton and found there were 16 deaths that were allegedly due to malpractice. there were some that used the terminology, referring to delays in care. one pending claim, a veteran allegedly died because of cervical cancer because of a delay in treatment. her widow whicher is seeking $3.5 million in damages at the va. there was another case where there was a settlement that the description of it was, quote, delay in treatment. like i said, there were 167 across the country, including in ohio. >> is there a specific definition to delaying care? do they put that in a time frame? how is that decided? >> yeah, that's one thing that's

still unclear. the definition delay in care, that the va uses, they say we've had 23 veterans die because of delay in care. we found that there were 167 alleged deaths due to, quote, delay and treatment. those are allegations brought by the family members. these are all cases that were settled, paid out by the va. exactly how those two universes of types of delay overlap is not entirely clear, but there are at least 167 cases in which the delay in treatment was a factor, in the case brought against the va and the va decided to settle it. >> josh, thank you for filling in there about this investigation. much appreciated. >> thank you. it is a problem that's getting worse for working parents. but a new book is offering solutions that could save you at work and at home. and that's next. oh yeah, hebrew national. their all-beef like yours but they're also kosher. is that a big deal? i think so. because not just any beef goes into it.

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a new turn in the investigation of mers cases, is raising the concerns of health experts. we have the first case of middle east respiratory syndrome passed from person to person, and they're warning americans traveling to and from the middle east. dr. nancy snyderman has more. >> tested positive for mers antibioti antibodies. >> about two years ago, persons having close contact with camels, either in caring for the camels, or consuming camel products, began to develop this infection. >> the virus now apparently spreading from human to human. a u.s. resident traveled to saudi arabia for business, reportedly met with the latest illinois man on two separate occasions. worldwide as of friday, there have been 572 laboratory

confirmed cases in 15 countries. 173 people have died. >> we have to be very careful about just giving people this false sense of security. but at the same time, right now, we have to also state that the problem is largely limited to the middle east. >> at least 20% of patients are asymptomatic. but most have developed severe acute respiratory illness with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. but all reported cases have had a link to countries in or near the arabian peninsula. >> the potential for mers to cause a larger threat is very clear. and also, the possibility that infection control can play a substantial part in reducing that risk, i think is also very clear. >> as of this morning, public health officials are continuing to investigate the spread of mers at home and abroad. with the third case now documented in the united states, there is proof that the virus causing middle east respiratory syndrome can in fact spread outside of the middle east.

but fortunately, there have been no deaths in this country. but the cdc is working 24/7 trying to track down everyone who's been on planes, in person, in families, even casual contacts with the two cases that first presented in the united states, one in illinois and one in florida. the symptoms resemble those of influenza. fever, shortness of breath, cough, aches and pains. but a reminder to doctors this is no longer flu season. so the centers for disease control is reaching out to people, particularly the doctors, to remind anyone that if you have symptoms like this, and you've traveled in or out of the middle east, or you know someone who has, to report to your doctor so you can get tested. there is right now no treatment. it's just supportive. and there is nov vaccine. viruses make this country very small with the air travel today, and dubai now being the world's

largest airport. when one virus leaves a nation and geographic area, it can easily end up in the united states. >> thank you for that, dr. nancy snyderman. while getting paid is one thing, is it ever possible for working parents to find true leisure time? joining me from washington, d.c. is bridget, staff writer at the "washington post," and author of "overwhelmed." i'm thinking, you must have been somewhat overwhelmed putting this book together, right? >> well, yes, indeed. i did get a leave from the "washington post," they were very generous, so i was only able to -- so i was able to focus on just reporting and writing this book. so that helped enormously. >> i should think. i have to say that i laughed out loud putting the research together for this, when it said that a researcher had found all american women have 30 hours of

leisure time each week. i'm like, who are those women? how did you react to that? >> well, that's sort of how i felt. i felt like i sort of described it like someone took a frying pan and bonged me on the head, and like in the cartoons the tweety birds were flying around my head, what planet do you live on? that's what i said to this researcher. you're crazy, i don't have 30 hours of leisure of the he said, yes, you do. come and do this time study and i'll show you where your leisure is. and when he laid down that challenge that led to this book for, where are these 30 hours of leisure, what is leisure, and does anyone have it in the modern era. i looked deeply at why are things the way they are. not just parents, but everyone. why is there this general feeling of being so overwhelmed, and a sense of time pressure that you never have enough time to do in a day that you need and want to do. i really look for bright spots. is there hope, is there anybody out there doing it better? i did find some. >> where did you find it? >> well, i found them in -- you

know, you have to look at, why are we feeling overwhmd whemd? you have to look at the water we're swimming in. we're working longer hours than we ever worked before. work hours, particularly for white collar workers, they've been rising since the 1980s. right now, we work among the most hours of any economy in the world. outside of japan and south korea. i mean, interesting thing about that is, we're actually not the most productive per hour. we just put in a lot of face time at the office. that's what we value. >> but i want to ask you about that, bridget. that's interesting to me. is it because we are overwhelmed? is it because we're not emphasizing leisure time? does that make us less productive at the office? >> i think they're all totally connected. that's such a good point. because we're putting in so many hours at the office, what we're finding, new neuroscience is showing us if we want to be

creative, if we want to have those innovations and break-throughs, that you're never going to get that with your nose to the grind stone. your brain is wired for those molts of inspiration to come in the off-time. in the idle moments, if you will. you've got the default mode network and your brain lights up when you're idle. it connects the hubs in the brain that don't usually connect. that's when you get the interesting break-through ideas in creativity. because we work so much and there's so much uncertainty, we overparent and overdo, and so then everybody gets stressed out. then we value the sense of being busy, rather than valuing the sense of leisure and taking time to be creative, and to really connect with others. >> yeah. well, you know, something that was told to me a long time ago, as much as you love your work, and i love mine, your work is never going to love you back. bridget, overwhelmed work love and play when no one has time, is the book.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." there are new details today on the controversy surrounding the firing of jill abramson. the publisher is speaking out explaining why he let her go. he claims sexism had nothing to do with it. here's why, abramson will be making a public appearance tomorrow. good day to you, rehema. this is her first public appearance since her firing was announced last wednesday, certainly on this level? >> reporter: absolutely. she'll be speaking publicly for the first time since that very controversial dismissal. and it's that firing that sent waves through the media world. it also triggered a very familiar debate that goes on across this country. and that is, how women lead, and whether or not they are held to a different standard than men. now, we haven't heard abramson's version of this story yet.

but the publisher of the paper has tried to make his case even clearer. late saturday he issued a statement saying, in part, i heard repeatedly from her newsroom colleagues about a series of issues, including arbitrary decision making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her. inadequate communication, and the public mistreatment of colleagues. sulzberger also dismissed a notion, saying the latest pay package was actually about 10% more than that of her predecessor. and according to sulzberger, abramson had been advised before that she needed to change her management style. from abramson's side, we're still waiting to hear her version of the story. but her daughter did put out a picture on instagram about her mother. meanwhile, back here at wake forest, about 500 miles from "the new york times," the final preparations are being made for

the commencement address. and the university professor saying he can't think of a better message for the class of 2014. it is timely and most likely every one of these 4,800 students will be listening very carefully to what jill abramson has to say. alex, you should know that the class here of graduates of 2014, 50% men, and 50% women. >> do you think there's a ghost of a chance that she won't address this? or is it all going to be about, you know, bringing women up and not letting the 50% of that class beat them out, as the women are vying for their jobs and getting going in life? >> reporter: i'll tell you that some of them will be disappointed if she doesn't say anything about it. because we talked to some of the graduates here on campus this morning, and they have been saying they do want to hear a little bit of what her side of the story is. they'd like to know what happened. and women and men, i have to tell you, are kind of interested in this as they get ready to leave the protected campus and

go out into the rough working world. they want to get a taste, if you will, of someone right in the throes of it of what that world is all about. >> absolutely. rehema, i know you'll have more on this, especially today on "meet the press" at the top of the hour. thank you so much from wake forest university. yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the supreme court's landmark ruling in brown versus the board of education, in which outlawed racial segregation in our nation's schools. while institutional segregation is a thing of the past, 40% of african-american and latino students still attend schools where more than 90% of those student bodies are non-white. joining me from detroit is the president of the american federation of teachers. randy, always good to see you. thanks for joining me. >> it's great to be with you, alex. >> so as we celebrate brown versus board of education and what it did to try to level the education playing fueud.

>> it's important to celebrate brown, but also to think of what the underlying issues were, which was equal opportunity. and where the court said, that separate but equal was not inherently equal, and to ensure that all kids had a real opportunity for success, we needed to have integrated schools. what's happened in the last 60 years is that for the first 20 years after brown, even though there was a lot of resistance to the decision, you started seeing a real path towards integration. and at the same time, you saw the war on poverty, because between the resources going into schools, particularly poor schools, or schools that had poor kids, and integration, you saw a real lessening of the achievement gap. in the last 20 years, that has totally reversed, or that has really reversed, as you see the

socioeconomics getting worse and worse in our country, the gap between rich and poor, the changes in housing patterns, the -- you're also seeing real increases in segregation again in our schools. >> but randi, you're -- but the segregation, it's not just in the south where it perhaps was the worst at the outset. i mean, this is across the country you're seeing these issues. >> absolutely. absolutely. and so it's terrible, but i'm very pleased that people have lifted this issue up in the last few weeks, because integration was, and is, important in so many different ways. and what's happened is that a lot of the current reforms that dominate the education debate, privatization, charters vouchers, actually made this

worse, not better. and the things that we need to lean into are what are the equity issues that will help us help all children. and that includes early childhood education, wrap-around services, and even things like common core, if done well. >> yeah. early childhood education, a big issue in new york city. but i want to pick up on charter schools, because this is something that was a prominent factor in the recent newark/new york mayoral election. an anti-charter school message was used to defeat jeffries. do the charter schools, which they are often criticized for taking funds from public schools and reinforcing segregation, do you think they actually contribute to the problem of segregation, and do you think you're seeing stronger backlash against them these days? >> look, let me just be clear, we actually -- we supported boroko from there.

his platform was great neighborhood public schools. i think what's happened is that you're seeing less and less equity. and the more that charter takes money from public schools, the less that the kids left in that public school have, particularly when you see budget cuts upon budget cuts. what the war on poverty was supposed to be about was to give those who have the least, the most, not to keep on taking things away. and what happens is that charters -- the charter law in new jersey in particular, it dilutes the moneys that go into public school systems. >> mm-hmm. what's interesting -- >> so you take a school, for example, in newark, like the hawthorne school, which has been doing better and better, and

instead of that success being rewarded, the new plan in newark that cammy anderson was doing, was to close awe thorn and give it to a charter. i think those were really the issues going on in newark. it was about, let's have great neighborhood public schools. and the superintendent should be working on that. >> do you think we're focused too much on the achievement inside the schools, and we're ignoring the importance of diversity? i wish we could do a study that people could see how much we learn from each other. putting a diverse group of kids together, we learn so much. >> i think that we -- look, this week has been terrific in that it has re-raised the issue of integration in a way that hasn't been raised in years. diversity is really important. making sure -- what diversity does is it helps us walk in each other's shoes. >> right. >> it helps us understand each other.

>> right. >> it helps cut down the polarization that we have. but at the same time, we have millions of kids in schools right now, and that's why i lean into the equity issues. how are we going to help create a ladder of opportunity for all children. and make sure that we help those who have the least the most. and that's where poverty really matters. not as an excuse. we have to address it, but how are we going to do that. >> well, i know you'll figure out something, randi. >> i'm trying? i know you are. thank you so much. good to see you. the big three's next. 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote.

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activate any 4glte smartphone and get $100 off. for best results, use verizon. it is time for the big three in today's topics. this week's must-reads. let's bring in my panel. angela rye, and senior editor beth, and former bush/cheney adviser robert trainam.

that would be the thorn among the roses there. no, i'm kidding. good to see you. let's go first to fair game. we're talking about the firestorm on karl rove's attack on hillary clinton. here's reince priebus on "meet the press" today. >> i think it's fair game for ronald reagan, fair game for john mccain. i think hillary is a known product. hillary has decades of history for us to explore. >> so, angela, your thoughts? fair game? talking about age? >> i think fair game is talking about age and health generally. what is not fair game is what karl rove has done. he knows exactly what he's doing. to bring up brain damage when she was in the hospital for a few days after suffering a concussion, and a blood clot is absolutely ridiculous. i really hope that they can figure out how to get to her real record, after this faux

benghazi trial that really should be an investigation when they look into why they did not support embassy security instead of blaming all of the obama administration, and trying to find an easy way out instead of looking at hillary's real record and how formidable a presidential candidate she really will be. >> in terms of endorsements, robert, clair mccaskill has endorsed hillary clinton for president. even though clinton has not made an official decision. here's her response. >> she has the experience of secretary of state. i think she has enhanced her resume. she's learned so much about how you win these campaigns. she knows how to ignore all the cheap shots. we do not know for certain that hillary clinton is going to run, but there's one thing i know for certain, karl rove engaging in cheap shots is not going to back off hillary clinton. >> you're reaction to that, robert? >> well, two things. one, i think karl rove had a legitimate point to bring up, and that was, or is her health. look, a health -- when you're running for president -- is a

legitimate thing to bring up. i'm not insinuating karl rove did the right thing about bringing up the brain injury thing. that's probably not appropriate. but again, from the health perspective, that is completely fair game. that's number one. number two, whether or not hillary clinton runs or not, we don't know. the fact of the matter is, if she does run, she has a treasure trove of information as well as policy positions that the republicans will take a look at and rightfully so. more importantly, the american people will take a look at her record and judge whether or not she should be afforded the presidency or not. we'll see. >> we also have, beth, dick cheney weighing in on hillary clinton's health today. let's take a listen to that. >> i think any presidential candidate, or vice presidential candidate will have to answer about their health. i wouldn't want to pre-judge misclinton's health.

i don't know anything about it. certainly i wanted to be open about my health when i was a vice presidential candidate. that will be expected of anybody who runs for president or vice president. >> keeping in mind that he was. beth, this is a man who i believe suffered his first heart attack when he was in his mid-30s. is all this discussion about health, is it expected or is there something more as has been indicated by angela with what karl rove was saying, and the problems from a concussion fall? >> well, i mean, what karl rove did was obviously strategic. it was a little bit ham-handed. it was done to denigrate hillary clinton. he doesn't do anything without a purpose. let's face it, questions about the former secretary of state's health are legitimate, as are any questions about anybody who's running for president. their health is fair game. i don't like the way he did it. but she is going to eventually have to discuss this if she gets in the race. her husband last week even said she had been treated for that concussion for six months. that's her biggest supporter

making the point all is not well after she fell and injured herself in december 2012. so, yeah, it's going to come back up as a legitimate issue. i think republicans need to be careful about how they bring it up, because it makes her look sympathetic if they push it too hard. >> rising star, the president plans to nominate san antonio mayor julian castro as head of the u.s. department of housing and urban development, or hud. angela, how big a move would this be for mayor castro's political future? he and his brother are both being called rising stars. >> they are rising stars. what we saw in 2012 with his speech was reminiscent of what we saw in 2004 with president barack obama's first speech at the dnc. they're the american dream story, and the fact that he's done a great job as snon mayor. they know that he needs a national platform to be considered for anything in 2016 is major. the other thing that this does,

there is a ready for hillary pact. there isn't anything that sees excitement for a hillary pact. i think it would move us from ready to excited veryso. beth, msnbc.com has a new article saying the new post would offer a national profile to castro, a risinging democratic star, whos has been mentioned as a potential 2016 vice presidential pick. clearly angela's thoughts are echoing those thoughts and others. how serious a contender could castro be for veep? >> he's a rising star in texas and that's the point. democrats are try thing to turn the big red state blue eventually with the huge influx of latino voters we have seen. maybe within 20 years they can accomplish that. i think it will take at least that long to do so. elevating someone like joaquin or julian castro, an upcoming democrat in the red state that's turning purple little by little

is is a smart move in terms of long term strategy. i don't know if that makes him veep. >> kwo want to take much time going through these numbers but with regard to the purr for republicans to reach out to latino voters. this is a man with a high profile position in the cabinet. perhaps considered for a vp position as well. republicans need to reach out specifically on issues like immigration reform. does this put added pressure? >> absolutely. i remind everyone george bush are tried to do this in 2005 with immigration reform. you have george p. bush, mel martinez, suzuki that martinez, jeb bush. a lot of people trying to speak the speak and also talk about the policy miss the latino communities. not just immigration but economic equality. the republicans have a good

message. good messengers. but they need to do a better job of reaching out to those individuals in the community. >> okay. guys, sit tight. you have all brought your must reads and you will share them next. eliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. yoyou are feeling powerfuld with a 4-cylinder engine.e. open your eyes to the 6-cylinder, 8-speed lexus gs. with more standard horsepower than any of its german competitors. this is a wakeup call. lease the 2014 gs350 for $449 a month for 24 months. see your lexus dealer.

so now we are back to the big 3 for their must reads. angela, what's yours? >> mine is all about attorney general eric holder, my hero for many minnesota reasons. in his commencement address at morgan state university he not only brought up chief justice robert's cyclical reasoning in a 2007 opinion where he said the only way to end racial discrimination is to end it, he also challenges all of us on racial discrimination we don't normally see in the headlines with the cliven bundys and donald sterling. he challenges us to look at racial discrimination for what it is. that's a great way to push back on race baiting. >> that sounds like a great thinking article. beth?

>> i'm talking about a great article by benjy sarlin. he was listening to hillary clinton speak and found her channelling elizabeth warren. she's talking about the you are fairness of the economy creating the haves and have nots and the middle class isn't getting ahead and the upper classes have. she needs to tamp down the left-leaning base on the democratic party to be sure she's got them. that was the way to do it. >> robert? >> the new york times has a great story about general motors being fined $13 million over deaths. it shows about chevrolet will and cadillac and they had this set-back from a public relations and legal standpoint. it's a must read. >> sounds good. angela, beth and robert -- i hope you don't mind i called you my thorn. that's the way it is. that's a wrap on weekends with

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we are volvo of sweden. next on "meet the press," republican attempts to take down hillary clinton are in full swing. after a headline-grabbing attack by karl rove. will republicans stop at nothing to keep her from running in 2016? i'll be joined by reince priebus, the chair of the republican national committee, and claire mccaskill, democratic senator from missouri who has already endorsed clinton for president. plus, the high profile firing that has rekindled a national conversation about women, power, and leadership. as the debate rages over the dismissal of "new york times" editor jill abramson we'll ask are women in power positions held to a different standard than men. nbc's maria