their security and our combat mission will be over. america's war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. page-turner. the first excerpt from hillary clinton's new memoir, "hard choices," could be called no excuses as the former first lady and secretary of state confronts her critics on her not-always popular decisions from the 2008 presidential campaign to her unexpected partnership with president obama, while serving as secretary of state. >> while my views and experiences will surely be scrutinized by followers of washington's long-running soap opera, who took what side, who opposed whom, who was up and who was down, i didn't write this book for them. and not again. after this weekend's deadly rampage in the uc santa barbara college campus, another shocked tight-knit community once again

searching for answers after a senseless tragedy. for the father of a 22-year-old victim, outrage. >> why did chris die? chris died because of craven irresponse politicians and the nra. they talk about gun rights. what about chris' right to live! when will this insanity stop! when will enough people say, stop this madness, we don't have to live like this! too many have died! we should say to ourselves, not one more! thank you. that's it. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we begin with breaking news from the white house. in just a few hours, president

obama will make a statement in the rose garden about the future for u.s. forces in afghanistan. joining me now by phone, msnbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs. and nbc national correspondent peter alexander, live at the white house. peter, first to you. what we're being told by national security officials on background is basically the president's going to announce the withdrawal, 32,000 troops now in afghanistan, and they are drawing down and he is open to an agreement with the new president of afghanistan, the runoff elections still to be held. >> reporter: yeah, andrea. that is exactly right. this is all contingent on that new president in afghanistan with the run-off scheduled for june 14th going ahead an signing whats what's referred to as the bsa, that security agreement between the two countries which would basically allow for american troops to stay there afterward. what we will hear from the president today and what we are hearing from senior ed administration officials right now there, 9,800 u.s. troops

still in afghanistan in 2015. by the end of 2015 the number will be shrunk roughly in half. by the end of 2016, roughly by the time the president ends his term in office, all of those troops will have come home. there will basically be a small number of americans still in afghanistan, much like in iraq where they will largely be serving at the embassy and in another location within that country. but this is significant because a this is basically the promise that the white house had made. the president has made that he would draw down the numbers there. the pentagon waiting for the formal announcement had been working with a series of potential options. one that there would be 2,000 troops there, another one there would be 5,000. another one, there would be roughly 10,000. pentagon brass has largely said that they need that number closest to 10,000 to allow for them to continue to train afghan forces. we are told that the number that will remain behind that 9,800 will share two missions, one

which is to train the afghan forces and separately to support ct operations, counterterrorism operations, specifically there to root out al qaeda forces within that nation. andrea? >> and to colonel jack, the president's going to be explaining this to the military itself at the commencement at west point tomorrow in an important foreign policy speech. first of all, is 9,800 troops the right number to go counterterrorism with the very aggressive taliban pushback that we've seen right in the heart of kabul, in fact, in recent months? secondly, i was watching last night the brilliant document from the korengal valley. what is the message to the troops, to the veterans who have served in afghanistan? now that we're withdrawing. are we giving up, are we letting the bad guys take over? what are they, as you medal of honor winner would know better than anyone, what do they take

away from this whole lesson of the longest war? >> with respect to the contingent of most military people, especially in an unconventional environment like it is in afghanistan, will say that 10,000 is not enough. it is interesting, it is 9,800. it is a bit like saying $98.99. it is still $100. they want to make it sound like it is less than 10,000. the fact of the matter is, most of the people i talk to say that given that the mission is accomplished, we'd need probably around 15,000 or 16,000 people. missions include not only training the afghans to defend themselves in a conventional way, but also training afghans to conduct counterinsurgency operations in their own country. as well as all the logistical and administrative people who are going to have to be trained in order to take care of all the afghans who are going to be remaining behind ostensibly to

fight the war. so it sounds like a lot of , bu military people say that's not a lot by about 50%. with respect to how the troops are going to feel, at the end of the day, whenever you withdraw, unless it is a decisive victory like it was in the second world war, there are going to be a lot of hurt feelings. people are going to feel like they have been abandoned, especially those who lost friends or relatives in the conflict. and the perceptions particularly intense, principally because the perception is that once we withdraw, and it is going to be a pretty quick withdrawal. you're moving 32,000 down to 10,000 in short order. once you withdraw, we already know that in certain areas, difficult areas, the taliban is going to come back with a vengeance and the afghans are not going to be able to defend themselves adequately. there's going to be a lot of hard feelings about the fact that we're bailing out.

that's going to persist and may grow over the years. >> jack jacobs with your unique perspective, thank you so much. thanks to peter alexander. now to hillary clinton, who, some would argue, lost the primaries to barack obama precisely because she supported the iraq war and was more in favor of military engagement overseas than the president during those primaries. there are a lot of other reasons. but now hillary clinton in her own words. today the author's note from clinton's new book "hard choices" was released. it is a look back at her work in the president's cabinet and her vision for the future. >> this book is about choices i made as secretary of state and those made by president obama and other leaders around the world. some chapters are about events that made headlines. others are about the trendlines that will continue to define our world for future generations. >> joining me now for our daily fix, chris cillizza and ruth

marcus. welcome, both. let's stipulate, there is a brilliant marketing technique. we've had leaks of books before, exclusive interviews granted, but now we've got the author's note in audio put out there right in time for morning news. and this in advance of, of course, a very well orchestrated and very high-profile book tour. they've sold millions already online so this is going to be a very, very big book. ruth, i want to ask you about it. you've covered her way back, as i did, whether she was first lady and during the '92 campaign, and since, and your take as to how she defines her role as secretary of state with the prospect of another presidential campaign. >> i think that's a really interesting question and in fact it is not just how she defines her role as secretary of state, but how she defines her whole vision of where she would want to take the country going forward. that's kind of the big unanswered question. if you sort of look back at

hillary clinton's first book, it was fascinating about her childhood, but then it sort of deinvolved, i thought, kind of degraded into a travel log of countries i visited as first lady. i'm going to be really curious to see in this new book if there is a kind of grander strategic vision and what content she gives to those hard choices she used for the title. >> in fact, let's hear another excerpt. i want you to react, chris, on the other side. hillary clinton about her state department years. >> these years were also a personal journey for me. both literally. i ended up visiting 112 countries and traveling nearly 1 million miles. and figuratively. from the painful end of the 2008 campaign, to an unexpected partnership and friendship with my former rival, barack obama. i've served our country in one way or another for decades, yet during my years as secretary of

state, i learned even more about our exceptional strengths and what it will take for us to compete and thrive at home and abroad. so there you have, chris, a little bit of a travel log that ruth was alluding to that was at the back end of livi"living history," her first book. but also a hint of looking forward, the vision thing. >> no question. first, i think this will probably be the most consumed author's note in the history of bub accompli publishing, andrea. i usually just kind of skim right over that. look, what she's doing here from releasing this early, as you point out, a very smart public relations move, she's trying to frame the narrative of both this book and then going forward. i think the likely presidential campaign that she will run, and how her time as secretary of state fits in to it. she also mentions smart power, sort of the broader themeatics that she tried to push as secretary of state. this is saying here are the markers, here are the things i

have done, i did as secretary of state, here's how they'll influence me going forward. going forward is a question mark but hisllary clinton knows as well as everyone else that going forward means a presidential bid. >> lis very carefully to karl rove on fox news talking about his response to this because he uses some buzzwords. let's talk about it on the other side. >> it's easy to fall in to nostalgia and hillary clinton may be in danger of doing this. she is talking about how good things were when bill was in office, when bill was in office the economy was better. which it to some degrees helps her but it also hurts her because it makes her look like yesterday. it is all about what happened back there in the '90s. we are 20 years past the point at which bill clinton was elected president. in american politics there is a sense you want to be new, you don't want to be too familiar. you want to be something fresh, you don't want to be something

that's old and stale. >> old and stale. ruth marcus? >> i'm tempted to say predictable and desperate? that's my response to those two words. look, there is a reason that karl rove, the architect of the george w. bush administration and presidency, is attacking hillary clinton. he's attacking hillary clinton because she is the presumptive front-runner around because there is no leading commanding republican candidate that has emerged yet to run against her if she chooses to run. and so he is going after her with what he's got, which is she's yesterday's news. he talks about nostalgia. i think there is arguably a reasonable amount of nostalgia for the bill clinton presidency, at least the good aspects of it. and so not surprising that he would do this attack, but not entirely attractive either. >> andrea -- >> just quickly. >> putting those words aside,

hillary clinton would acknowledge this. the biggest challenge of her campaign is to -- elections are about the future and she does -- we talked about that -- forward looking vision. she does have to articulate that. >> no question. the only question is the words that you use when you're the republican on the other side. thank you very much, thanks, chris, see you later. meanwhile, thousands of mourners today expected this afternoon at a memorial service honoring those six victims friday night's horrific tragedy near the campus of university of california santa barbara. the alleged killer, elliot rodger, went on a deadly spree stabbing three people, including his own roommates, and shooting three others before taking his own life. classes at ucsb were canceled today as the community still tries to make sense of the incident which has renewed the nation's debate over gun control. it is an issue that richard martinez, the father of one of the victims, spoke about passionately this weekend. >> why did chris die? chris died because of craven,

irresponsible politicians and the nra. they talk about gun rights. what about chris' right to live? when will this insanity stop! >> joining me now is dan gross, the president of the brady campaign to prevent gun violence. dan, thanks for being with us. this is a question that commander mark kelly and gabby giffords were asking and tweeting about this weekend. when will officials deal with the issue. now here there were three who died from stab wounds as well, but the gun and the fact that he had so much more ammo on him is a critical issue and he bought it legally and despite the sheriff's visit, despite gun laws in california, which are stricter than elsewhere in the country, there was nothing on the face of it that -- at least legally -- was inappropriate so far. i think one of the gun shops is

being questioned, but take it from there, dan. >> we have to look at this issue in the context of the greater and great gun violence problem that we have in this country. every day 90 people die as a result of guns and bullets. and there are real solutions that we can use to actually prevent many or most of those gun deaths. and richard martinez had it exactly right. the reason why those solutions are bei aren't being implemented, like background checks on gun sales that could prevent a lot of the gun deaths that wind up happening in our country every day. those solutions aren't being implemented because of the corporate gun lobby and as he says better than i ever could, the craven and irresponsible politicians who do their bidding and this will end when the american public rises up and makes their voice heard alongside really courageous people like richard martinez and make our voice heard collectively to hold our elected officials accountable. >> in terms of california, it

has one of the nation's strictest gun laws. mandatory background checks, a ten-day waiting period. they limit one handgun purchase per 30 days. this is a source to your own analysis, the brady campaign's analysis in 2013 of california. so if california can't control these guns, what is the hope for the rest of the country? >> first of all, california does a remarkable job. it's one of the safest states as a result of the terrific laws that have been passed and regulations that have been passed in california to prevent gun violence. but we can't look at this in the context of any single tragedy. we have to look at this in the context of the fact that every day 90 people die from guns across our country. every year 30,000 people die as a result and the solutions that we advocate are the solutions that would prevent a lot of those gun deaths. yes, there actually are things that may have been able to prevent this tragedy in california to build on top of the great laws that are already there. there is a great law that was passed in connecticut to put parents and law enforcement in a

better position to take guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill. we have advocates and activists on the ground in california who support laws like that and we hope that one will be introduced. but we also have to look at this in the context of the greater problem and the things that we can do, which comes down to us making our voice heard to tell our elected officials that we are watching them, that they cannot take money from the corporate gun lobby to put the profits of that industry ahead of the lives and well being of the american public. >> i should just point out that the senators in california have been very strong on this. senator feinstein who issued a statement this weekend got her start in politics really during the assassination of harvey milk in san francisco. that's when she became mayor. she wrote that when anyone, no matter their mental health or history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want, we must recognize there is a problem. you have leadership there at the state level but of course, sadly, the mental health

questions still remain. divorced parents of this young man got so concerned about him they were driving up the highway and calling 911 and they were too late. thank you for coming on. millions took to twitter over the weekend using the #yesallwomen in response to elliot rodger's online rant. he expressed his irrational anger at women who had rejected him, saying he was going to launch a "war on women" and in turn, twitter users rallied support for women sharing their personal experiences in tweets like this -- because every single woman i know has a story about a man feeling entitled to access to her body every single one. and, because when my husband asks me to slow down when we walk together i realize he hasn't spent his life avoiding street harassment. and a mother tweets, i spent 19 years teaching my daughter how not to be raped. how long have you spent teaching

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that is a sacred obligation and we're behind right now. the va is having problems and we got to get to the bottom of it. we got to get to the bottom of it. >> that was vice president joe biden addressing problems with the va during a memorial day event yesterday. an event with more than 200 wounded vets. the vice president was kicking off the annual ride to recovery, the bike ride challenge as the investigation into the va scandal continues this week. senator bernie sanders is the chair of the veterans affairs committee in the senate and joins me now from burlington, vermont. senator, what is your solution? there have been those calling

for shinseki's resignation. there's been calls for a complete shake-up. let's stipulate that this did not start now or last year or the year before. this is a long-standing problem with the va. >> well, let's look at what the allegations are right now that are being investigated by the inspector general. there are serious allegations that va facilities around the country, what people are doing is saying, writing down reports, that veterans are getting health care within the two-week standard for new applications, getting into the system in two weeks, when in fact it may be four weeks, six weeks or even longer. andrea, that is totally unacceptable. and we've got to deal with that. the more important point to be asked is, how do we make sure that every veteran in this country gets the high-quality health care that he or she needs in a timely manner. what has got to be said about that, if you ask the veterans organizations, if you ask

veterans all over the country, as i have, if you look at independent surveys, the truth is that once people get in to the va system, the care that they are getting is pretty high quality. most veterans are pretty happy with the care that they're getting. the difficulty that we have right now is that as a result of the wars in iraq and afghanistan, in recent years, we have seen two million more veterans getting in to the system. and the question that we have to ask is, does the va have the resources, have the doctors, have the nurses, to provide timely, quality care to all of the people who are now in the system. and by the way,le many of the new people who are coming in to the system are dealing with ptsd, tbi, very difficult health issues. so that's the most important issue that we have got to deal with. we're working on legislation right now that will begin to address some of these issues.

>> i want to ask you about a letter from senator richard burr, your republican committee member, criticizing veterans groups who are divided on weather center shinseki is the problem. is this helpful in reaching a solution? >> well, i think that's something you have to ask senator burr about. i can simply tell you that i have worked since i've been chairman very closely with the american legion, the dav, the vfw, vietnam vets, all of the veterans organizations. i find them to be extremely knowledgeable about the problems that are phasing the veterans community. andrea, let me tell you something. what these guys have done through a program called the independent budget, they assess the theedz needs of veterans, they assess the funding. year after year i have agreed with them and tried to get more funding. the va does not have the resources they need. but by and large, i think their track record in washington in terms of fighting for new

educational opportunities for veterans, for a caregiver program which is just revolutionary in what it is trying to do, they have a good record, they are serious people. i enjoy working with them. >> is what the administration announced in recent days the right quick fix, which is that if there is more than a two-week waiting period that vets can then go into the other part of the system to regular other hospitals until they can get in to the va and i take your point that all the veterans i speak to as well -- you have far more experience than i -- they like the care they're getting from the veterans, from the va, from the system. the problem is the backlog or the biggest problem is the backlog. >> well, andrea, i think what the president is suggesting is a reasonable idea. except the problem is more complicated than it looks even there. all over this country, we have a major crisis in, say, primary health care. we do not have enough primary health care physicians.

so it is not quite so easy to say to a veteran, well, you're waiting to get into the va, go in to your community. you got to get in the next day. not necessarily the case but i think it may be -- at least good temporary step. second of all, we have community health centers, federally funded community health centers all over this country which do a great job, primary health care, you have the indian health service, the department of defense facilities. we might want to open them up to veterans if there are waiting lines within the va itself. but the bottom line here, i would hope that as a country, that we fully understand the cost of war. andrea, let me tell you. i think many people do not. we're not just talking about the thousands of people who died in iraq and afghanistan. we're talking about 200,000 men and women who came home with ptsd and tbi. talking about people who came home without legs, without arms, without hearing, without eyesight. if this country stands for anything, what we have got to say is that we are going to

provide adequate funding to make sure that every person who is entitled to those health care services gets the best health that they can and they get it in a timely manner. >> senator sanders, thanks you very. much. thanks for being with us. nigerian officials are claiming that they know where the terror groupb boka haram captured. but they claimed they wouldn't launch a rescue mission because it would be too dangerous for the schoolgirls. there is no evidence the nigerian intelligence even knows where they are. ♪

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he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com well, the election came off without too much problem but that successful election in ukraine has not diminished the

violence in that country. a battle for the airport in donetsk has left 40 dead according to the mayor there. ukraine's president elect who won overwhelmingly in the election on sunday is now promising to quash the pro-russia insurgency while also pledging to work with russia in the days to come. joining me now to discuss all of this, ambassador nicholas burns, career diplomat who served as under secretary of state for political affairs and ambassador to nato, now professor at harvard's kennedy school. madelyn albright and jane harman and other election observers say it came off pretty well. >> it did. it was an impressive election. turnout was impressive considering the circumstances. it just wasn't possible to have free and fair voting in eastern ukraine because these militants, these armed ethnic russian militants destroyed ballot boxes and prevented people from going to the poles. but i think most international

observers were saying it was free and fair, that the ukrainian state has now been re-established and the president electricity represents all ukrainians and we ought to support him. that's the big imperative now for the obama administration. president obama called him this morning getting support to them, making sure the economic aid pledged by the united states, european union, imf, actually gets there to make a difference as he tries to re-establish the credibility of the ukrainian state particularly in the eastern part of the country. >> we should point out that this is the third go-round and they have failed before. interestingly, poroshenko said yesterday in his news conference what they want is economic aid to root out corruption, corporate and government corruption. in your view is he focusing on the right thing? >> he's right to focus on corruption. i'm not sure he needs a lot of economic aid to do that. the president of ukraine has the mandate, working through his government, to try to stamp out corruption in his government, in the old government. that's been a major problem

that's afflicted the ukrainian government all the way back to 1991 when ukraine became an independent state. i think in a lot of ways, andrea, this story now shifts toward can this new president grab control of power and try to extend the credibility and authority of the ukrainian government not just in the center and western parts of the country, but also in the east and that led to what you indicated in the run-up to this interview, the very bloody events in donetsk over the last few hours when these armed separatists tried to take control of the airport. ukrainian authorities now have to go through these eastern ukrainian towns and try to win back control of the municipal buildings that have been occupied by these armed separaties for six yeex nweeks . they need to re-establish the authority of the central government as economic support to do that. at the same time, think president obama when he travels to europe next week is going to have to continue to try to convince the europeans to

develop a stronger response through stronger sanctions against president putin because the sanctions just haven't been very tough. >> there has been a lot of resistance in europe as well to going along with the president because of pressure from businesses and their continuing relationships with russia. i want to switch gears for a final thought here, because something happened during the president's trip to afghanistan, which to my mind, is unprecedented. a deliberate, unwitting, but a mistaken outing of a station chief in afghanistan by a press aide presumely on air force one putting out what the military had listed listing the participants in a briefing at bagram air force base and including the cia person. valley plame has now tweeted astonishing. white house mistakenly identifies cia chief in afghanistan. valerie plame, of course, was outed by officials and "scooter" libby ended up being prosecuted for that.

can you get your arms around the fact that they actually listed the covert station chief in afghanistan, of all places? >> well, andrea, i'm just reading about this in the press. i just presume this was -- it is a very serious administrative error. obviously the white house is trying to do its best now to recover from that. i think the bigger story here this week when the president speaks at west point tomorrow will be whether or not the president will commit to maintain an american military presence, say of about 10,000 people, in afghanistan when the great bulk of the troops come out. i certainly hope that will be the case. we have a big job ahead in trying to stabilize afghanistan going forward. it is a very important mission. that ought to be part of what the president says tomorrow. >> and it will be. in fact, the president today -- it's just been added to his schedule, this afternoon in the rose garden, he'll announce the willingness to stay with 9,800 troops, assuming that the new president of afghanistan goes along with that. that seems to be what is baked in the cake. thank you very much, not to mix

too many metaphors, nick burns, thank you. could a new release of satellite data bring fresh leads to the search for missing mails flig malaysia flight 370. families of the missing hope this report can verify the plane's last location. raw data documents a series of what are called handshakes or pings, hourly satellite communications used to chart the path of the jetliner after it disappeared from radar. after nearly three months and a massive international effort, the search for any sign of the missing plane in the southern indian ocean has produced no results. next phase of the undersea search will involve a 23,000 square mile area. will likely take months by a private contractor.

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republican lawmakers have visions after senate majority dancing in their heads. but a new report details just how much party leaders are divided about their message whand it should be before the november mid-terms. and what about the tea party? michael steele is an msnbc analyst, former chair of the republican national committee and joins me now from chicago. hey, michael, thank you very much. so what about the division between the two branches, if you will, of the republican party? it's been a divided party for some time. we've seen it play out in primaries and in the general election. how do they need to come together if they're going to win not just keep control of the house, as it is pretty much baked in the cake, but win control of the senate? >> i think, oddly enough as it sounds, they've got to build a broad coalition within the gop. i think you are seeing that effort manifest itself in a number of ways. one was the release last week of the conservative manifesto by a

group of think tank professionals who took a rather sincere look at the policy initiatives. you've got the conversation at least of a contract with america that some like lindsey graham and others would like to see promoted to help solidify those gains that they expect this fall in the u.s. senate. but it still boils down to this -- how do the take party activists within the parties reconcile with the establishment leaders of the party such that around some broad principles and ideas that they can go out into the public and talk about in a very aggressive, yes, but certainly in an inviting way for the party to actually get the coalition of voters that they need. but that coalition building has to begin within the party itself and that's kind of what you're seeing happen right now, andrea. >> but the tea party still challenging leaders who are mainstream conservatives. look at what happened to eric cantor a couple of weeks ago in

richmond, in his own district. he's got a tea party opponent, and this was the tea party supporters of his primary challenger, june 10th primary, i think it is. look what happened at a town hall meeting. >> when i sit here and i listen to mr. brant speak, i hear the inaccuracies. my families here -- listen. we are about a country of free speech, so decency is also part of this. >> no! >> boo! >> so if eric cantor is going to get booed in richmond, what does that say about the strength of the tea party? they lost a number of battles in the first round especially in kentucky, but they are still a force to contend with. >> oh, absolutely, andrea. the tea party is not going away into that good night. they are going to be very much a part of this election cycle.

in fact, the smart money is really on the tea party's long ball strategy which to have a real impact on the presidential race starting next year. so the battle that you see right now are place markers. they're -- the party is saying -- the tea party is saying in large measure, we're going to challenge the status quo, push back against the narrative that seems to have taken -- rerooted itself, if you will, in the party, as we get ready for 2016. so canter and others are beginning -- mcconnell, for example, see this pressure building. the question becomes -- i think it was manifested last week in the election -- whether or not you can successful build a relationship whereby the establishment runs the candidates they want to run but those candidates are running on a tea party message. i think you saw some of that in last week's results on super tuesday, if you will. >> thank you so much. great to see you again, mike. >> good to see you, andrea. coming up -- the fight for marriage equality in an unlikely

place. a small town in north dakota. the only state that hasn't had a legal challenge to its gay marriage ban. stay with us for how that might change on andrea mitchell reports, only on msnbc. to new y. the numbers are impressive. over 400,000 new private sector jobs... making new york state number two in the nation in new private sector job creation... with 10 regional development strategies to fit your business needs. and now it's even better because they've introduced startup new york... with the state creating dozens of tax-free zones where businesses pay no taxes for ten years. become the next business to discover the new new york. [ male announcer ] see if your business qualifies.

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last week six couples in south dakota filed federal lawsuits challenging a ban on same-sex marriage in that state. that leaves north dakota as the only state in the nation without a legal challenge to gay marriage bans on the books. as part of our growing hope campaign, i'm joined by the mayor of thompson, north dakota, who has joined the group freedom to marry in their campaign to win gay marriage rights nationwide. mayor, thank you very much for being with us. tell me about the legal challenge that you hope could take place also in north dakota. >> well, thank you very much for having me. i think that as you stated, the new suits that are being brought forward in south dakota, some in montana, all around us, are

coming around all the time. so i'm really hopeful that some will come forward in north dakota as well. and i do believe there is an attorney working on some cases right now as we speak. so i'm very hopeful and pretty confident that in the coming weeks, more will be coming to light from north dakota as well. >> i just want to explain why to our viewers, why for you, this is so personal. give us your family history. >> yes. well, andrea, i was always of a mindset of equality and just compassion for others. i was raised as a pker, pastor's kid. my parents are both lutheran pastors, retired now. but very -- i was raised in a very loving and compassionate way. and it's never been within me to judge others. and that was even made more so five years ago when my oldest

son, matthew, came out to me that he was gay. and my first instinct was, geez, i wish -- i always thought you were going to get married and have kids. then i thought, well, i guess you can adopt. but right now if he stays in north dakota, he still can't get married. so when my son came out to me, it wasn't like all of a sudden i became in favor of equality. i always was. but it became more personal with his sharing his own discovery and his own self with me. >> do you think that you are reflective of the change in america? you live in north dakota. it's a conservative state. you came from a republican background. and you're now the 400th mayor across the country to sign on to this mayors for freedom to marry campaign. is america changing and are political leaders behind the curve on this?

>> i absolutely think it is. it is changing. whatever the social topic, you remember how our nation changed with civil rights and equality. this is no different. and it is slow in some areas to change and it's more quickly in other areas. but i do think that our nation is changing and embracing the idea of equality for all. >> what has been the reaction from your constituents? you're an elected official. >> i am an elected official. and i've gotten countless e-mails, pats on the back, hugs, phone calls, lots and lots and lots of support. i've even gotten e-mails that by the sender's name, i could tell that they wanted to remain anonymous but just thanking me for my support and sharing with me their personal stories of how

they've been restricted by some of our laws and rules in society. >> thank you so much for being with us. we'll follow what happens in north dakota and stay in touch with you. thanks for sharing. >> thank you very much. and which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next right here on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

welcome back. welcome chris cillizza back with us. the president will be in the rose garden this afternoon and deliver the main message about this troop withdrawal and what he's hoping for troops, 9,800 troops to remain. and at west point tomorrow for a broader speech on foreign policy. what do you think he is loping to achieve? >> andrea, the news may be today, the sort of broader vision tomorrow at west point. look, i think the recent asia trip highlighted this. what exactly is the obama doctrine? and even bigger, what is the role of the united states and

obviously in a changeable and changing world, situations like syria, ukraine, when do we intervene whether do we not. president obama has struggled to do that. i think this is an attempt to do so. a lot easier in your second term on foreign policy than domestic policy to make an impact. maybe this is the start of something. >> another big story we'll be monitoring in the next 24 hours, the first clips of brian williams' wide-ranging interview with eric snowden. tonight on "nightly news." and tomorrow are for the one-hour prime time special at 10:00 eastern. much more on that tomorrow right here on "andrea mitchell reports. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on twitter. . it's important to know the difference. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs

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breaking news from president obama coming right up. and, hillary clinton's new book leaks its first excerpts. spoiler alert -- dumbeldore

dies. >> in this author's note, we see the first look at what the secretary clinton will be saying if she runs for president. she says this book is not written for people who follow washington soap operas. >> cuc santa barbara community reeling with outrage and grief. >> the killer was a 22-year-old who detailed his plans in a disturbing string of writings and videos. >> he promised a day of retribution and put it up on youtube in which he blamed women for spurning him. >> there is a breakthrough here. nigeria's defense chief says the military knows where boca hara. >> a rescue attempt is entirely out of the question, requiring a full-blown invasion, not likely to succeed.