players. we'll look at america's new fascination with an old game. summer's here. we'll try to find the biggest slide to celebrate the season. a live report from one of america's busiest parks. it's high noon in the east, high noon out west. the isis terror group continues its violent assault across iraq in a bid to overthrow the government. officials say the group has seized a border crossing about 200 miles west of baghdad, after killing some 30 iraqi troops and another town on the euphrates river. at this time, isis has released a chilling new propaganda video featuring three english-speaking jihadists. fighters make a reference to a term used to describe syria and portions of neighboring countries. meantime, president obama is

talking to msnbc about the crisis in iraq. the president says the iraqi government needs to find a political solution to unite the country. >> some of the forces that have always possibly pulled iraq apart are stronger now. those forces that could keep the country united are weaker. it is ultimately going to be up to the iraqi leadership to try to pull the politics of the country back together again. >> let's go to erbil iraq. first up, this new video that was released by isis in english. what kind of details have you learned? >> as you mentioned, the video was recorded some time recently, because at least we know it makes reference to what is happening inside syria and in neighboring iraq. it doesn't make clear where the footage was shot but one of the issues from just watching the video several times that i've been able to observe is the call

that has been made by these individuals to appeal to people in the west, to appeal to a sense of fulfillment, and to come join the fight. a lot of the people that were speaking were identified -- identified themselves either as australians, from the uk. others were from bangladesh or cambod cambodia. the understanding was to send this message to muslims around the world, in the west and elsewhere, to come and join the fight for what they believe is a greater cause. that cause being an ideological one. not just iraq but taking fight to, in their words, jordan, lebanon and elsewhere. >> so, ammon, let's talk about the latest in the fight. what's the latest in the situation there as isis is tibing tib ing continuing to try to get more territory? >> they have. we've gotten a sense, their strate strategy, just from observing some of the areas they've been targeting. we went out with the peshmerga.

we noticed in speaking to them they have a strategy. at least in the south, to try to control some of the roads that head into baghdad. that's why they're fighting in some small towns and villages along some key highways. they managed to take over a major point of crossing between the syrian and iraqi border. that is going to make it easier for them to bring in weapons from both sides of the battlefield and to bring in fighters from both sides of the battlefield. keep in mind, they've had a lot of access to the border over the course of the last several months but that was through r rugged terrain, dangerous areas. but now they control that border. they're going to have a much easier time transferring those weapons and fighters. that's going to be very dangerous, as you'll see more of an influx on both battlefields in syria and iraq. >> from erbil, iraq, thank you. karen base, a member of the house foreign affairs committee.

welcome back ton t the program, ma'am. you said, quote, i can't imagine sending our troops back to iraq. we should not answer previous blunders with additional missteps. our nation has sacrificed already too much in iraq and it's time for iraq leaders to step up and diffuse the differences tearing that country apart. does the u.s. have any obligation to help iraq? >> yes, i certainly think we do. the iraqis, in particular, al maliki, they have to come to terms and be inclusive of sunnis. you know, part of this is his own making, and i think that's really a tragedy. it's how he has chose be to govern. he has fuelled this sectarian violence. >> let's listen to what the president said. he was speaking with my colleague, "morning joe's" mika br brzezinski. >> you said the woar was ended n

iraq. you said it was stable. >> it was. just because something was stable two years ago doesn't mean it's stable right now. what we had is a situation in which, in part, because of growing mistrust between sunni and shia. >> so the comparison, that was then, this is now. how much responsibility does the president bear to today's situation where iraq is becoming increasingly less stable? >> you know, it's in no one's interest in the entire world for iraq to be unstable. we do have to remember history. we have to remember the president had wanted to leave troops in iraq, but he could not come to agreement with al maliki, whose terms were unacceptable. and so that is why we don't have anyone there today. so the president's call to send in advisers with the number one priority being to protect our embassy and the other americans there i believe is the right thing to do. the other thing is, i think we have to continue to put pressure

on al maliki to say, you know, you really have to figure out your government. they're on a deadline right now. they're supposed to reorganize their parliament. he has an opportunity to be more incluesive right now. let's see what he does. >> what about your constituents, what are they telling you about the situation in iraq? >> i hear from them all the time. i'm planning a big town hall meeting next saturday, or next sunday, rather, and without a doubt, they're saying they don't want to see us back involved in iraq. and so i don't believe that i'm going to hear anything different next week. >> in terms of involved in iraq, are they being specific? is this boots on the ground or are they okay with the drones or, you know, surveillance or the 300 military advisers going there to help train and prepare the iraqi soldiers to do their thing and protect their own country? are they comfortable with that? >> right. well, in general, my constituents do not want to see boots on the ground. and then think when it comes to whether there's drown surveillance, et cetera, that's where you're going to see.

some constituents are concerned about iran and the potential for iran to be stronger than it is already. and understanding the influence iran has with maliki. so there's a lot of concerns there as well. >> secretary of state john kerry is heading to the region this weekend. what message would you have him give to the leaders when he meets with them about iraq? >> the number one message is for there to be pressure on al maliki, that when he puts the parliament together, when they form a new coalition, it has to be inclusive. i believe that's the number one message that needs to be delivered. i know that he's also going to visit jordan. and i think that the u.s. needs to continue to be very suppo supportive to jordan. as you know, jordan has had to take in millions of refugees. and it's really creating problems within their country. >> another potential problem here, i know you're familiar with this new isis video showing these three jihadists speaking in english. one of them being identified as

british, another australian. if these individuals have western passports, how concerned are you about them traveling here to the u.s. to commit acts of terror? >> well, i'm very concerned. that is a possibility. and so that's all the more reason why we need to have a solution in iraq that is primarily a diplomatic solution. with all of the region's players coming together to say this violence has got to stop. so it is a concern for us. i think it's a concern for the entire world. which is why it's easy on the one hand to say that's iraq, we were there, we need to forget it and walk away. but we really can't. i think this video is a perfect example of why we need to continue to be involve. it's a question as to how we are to be involved. i think it's primarily diplomatic and not militarily. >> we've had many architects of the iraq war. their voices resurrected, if you will, regarding what's happening now. what do you make of that? >> i just think it's incredible, because this is a mess that we

created. that was the part of my statement, you know, why we got into iraq to begin with. that is why we do bear some responsibility. i think to have people like cheney come back and talk about and be critical of the president, they really need to go some place and -- they don't need to be involved right now. >> all right. from california, democratic congresswoman karen bass, nice to see you. in other news, pope francis is ruffling a few feather, taking a trip to a town in southern italy notorious for its mafia connections. a boy was murdered in an alleged mob-related killing earlier this year. he also spent some time counseling inmates at a local prison nearby. actor tracy morgan has been transferred to a rehabilitation center where he's expected to

remain for the next few weeks. the comedian was upgraded to fair condition, after sustaining severe injuries in a six-vehicle accident on the turnpike. a tip for beachgoers. a new report finds great white sharks are on the upswing in waters off the eastern u.s. and canadian coast. the shark population has been in decline but scientists attribute the resurgence to conservation efforts aimed at hunting prevention. at 6:51 eastern daylight time this morning, we slipped into the summer season of 2014. exactly then. in fact, it looks like it right now in new york city and across the east coast in general. especially at six flags hurricane harbor in georgia. where the weather channel's dave mattcalf is joining me now. how can we tell it's summer? >> you just look around you and you see how packed parks are like this. we're going to get 14 hours and

some change of sunlight today on the longest day as i hand off my phone so it doesn't get ruined. in this, which is called the tsunami surge. what you've got is a bunch of different waterslide technologies in here. put altogether, we're going to go in this tube and we're going to pop out the other end. 92 degrees in hot atlanta. that's why you want to be in something like this so you can get cooled off. once we go down, we'll actually catch some air and zero gs! >> oh, man, that was fun to watch. he got paid to do that. i'm so not on the right end of this camera. anyway, that does look like a lot of fun. i think the water might have did

a little something there with the microphone. having fun. thanks for that live shot. a new insight from a man who spent time in some of the world's most dangerous place, including iraq. i'll get his thoughts on isis. how one young lady is smacking history on the green. for her, it's just par for the course. talk about a walk on the wild side. even the grand canyon sky walk needs a little windex once in a while. it takes a brave soul to do that work, which entailed dangling 5,000 feet above the ground. the cleaning took place earlier this week and occurs every few months. >> it's a great view. it's nice when you get a dance to kind of stop and look. it's really awesome. kind of an awe inspiring experience. (mother vo) when i was pregnant... 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

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join us. that is the message from the young english-speaking jihadist. the fighters identify themselves as british and australian and say they are soon going to iraq to fight. terrorism experts warn members of isis from western countries pose perhaps the greatest threat to the u.s. homeland. joining me now is a journalist who has spent an extensive amount of time in iraq, author of the classic series "the world's most dangerous places." among several other books. i'm glad to speak with you. know you've met militant groups from around the world. what's your assessment of isis and its capabilities? >> well, i think isis is very good at projecting an asymmetrical threat. numerically, there are not that many. about 2,000, to 3,000, depending on which sources you read. they're essentially being welcomed in by tribes in the anbar region, the same sunni people we paid off to create -- you remember the surge and the awakening.

so they felt disenfranchised from the maliki government so they invited this group in to basically raise havoc but knew marically they're not a large threat. >> what do you mean by "we paid off"? >> well, the tribes in anbar are a critical part of the sunni power structure in iraq. and when we went in, saddam hussein had a very good relationship with these tribes. and we shut down -- paul bremer shut down the baath government and also the military, which then created the insurgency. when general petraeus went into mosul, for example, he found out in you work with the tribes in mosul, it suddenly became peaceful. these tribes are bargaining their power because they feel cut off from the maliki government or from the central government of iraq. you have to remember in 2010 with iran's support and urging, maliki severed a number of ties with the northern sunni tribes. which is what brought in isis. isis was trained and equipped in syria.

using saudi, qatari, u.s., other sources, was far too violent for al qaeda and has now found a home in iraq. >> a big concern about isis is the involvement of foreign fighters. those that we've seen on this video and beyond, their potential to strike here in the u.s. are they too busy with iraq and syria to plan something like al qaeda had in the 1990s? >> yeah, this is kind a myth, the idea that, oh, look, there's foreign fighter. the bulk of the forces is made up of the local people. we take the 40 to 200 foreigners that have left this country or britain to go fight over there and say, oh, they're going to come back and be terrorists. they're typically used as suicide fodder because they have no military skills. this is asymmetrical projection of force. they're trying to say look how big we are. the reality is, this is a very small force that will be wiped out by u.s. forces and other

forces. >> can i ask you what happened 12 years ago when you interviewed john walker lindh? he was a different breed from what isis represents. what drives someone to lead a relatively comfortable life to go fight and as you're indicating they'll likely die in a foreign war? >> i've been with many jihadi groups. i've been with at least three u.s. jihadis that went over to fight. they go over to fight and die. john walker lindh was trained up by al qaeda. he sat at the foot of bin laden. his goal was to actually strengthen the local forces by essentially creating a suicide force or a wall of steel, as they call it. they used to be called al ansar, which is the volunteers. their goal is to say, hey, i'm kneelistic, i got daddy issues, i can't handle life in america, i want to fight for a cause. it's very much of a cult-like attraction to them. these people, whether it's somalia or iraq or syria, they're usually used as suicide bomber because they film

themselves and they make a big deal about themselves being foreigners, which is designed to strike fear into western countries. as a military threat, it's a very minor threat. >> with these 2,000 to 3,000, depending on -- you said the force of the projection here, these isis member, what makes you so confidence that these 300 military advisers being sent into iraq, as they've been described by the obama administration, what makes you so confident they're going to get rid of isis? >> i was with u.s. special forces in 2001 when they gafoug on horseback and coordinated air strikes against the taliban. the taliban had become mechan e mechanized, just like isis has mechanized. they travel with trucks. they have very large arms. they don't have large-scale defenses. they're very easy to locate and root out. we use drones, gunships. these are extraordinarily precise weapons that are lazed in or basically talked into the

site by u.s. special forces. secondly, the u.s. troops trained the iraqi commandos and special forces. they'll act as a force multiplier. they'll strengthen the resolve. when you go into combat with indigenous troops, you see our troops essentially strengthen and provide command and control and actually morale. the ability to go in and continue to fight. you'll see a lot of very violent actions against isis, which will lead to their -- probably, total destruction. >> when you say "these violent actions," does that include americans on the ground, or specifically just from the air, the kind of air strikes we've talked about doing, the drones, the gathering of intelligence and how long will it take to get rid of isis? >> that's a good question. the ultimate strategy is to put so much violence on these small groups of people that they can't function anymore. you saw this in 2001. you've probably seen it in videos. where large groups are tracked for very long periods of times.

they see weapons, they call in an air strike and they're basically obliterated. this dramatically affected how these people operate. the only risk is they would essentially become civilians and act as terrorists or insurgents. the reason why we're in such a hurry to get people over there and to get the george bush aircraft carrier in place is we want to catch these people while they're in fixed positions fighting fork for example, in the refinery in baiji. and act like force multipliers. then we've got a different problem. >> one more time, the possibility of americans on the ground being involved in violent events, i mean, look, the possibility of loss of life, even one american sole jdier ov there, of these 300 heading over there, what are the chances of that? >> first of all, it's called a standoff war. so they are -- any u.s. operative is going to be protected by indigenous forces or iraqi forces. they're going to be two to three miles and maybe 500 yards depending on the safety level.

they're going to be calling in very accurate air strikes. they're going to be managing the command and control of the ground forces which will be iraqis. so it's what the iraqis need. we numerically created 400,000 security assets in iraq, but they're not all trained, dedicated professionals as we saw, when they ran away. the u.s. special forces are very comfortable with iraqi soldiers. they trained them up, also with the peshmerga in kurdistan. you'll see this escalation of activity once these troops hit the ground. >> fascinating conversation. robert van pelten, thank you, appreciate it. when drones fall from the sky. we'll tell you about the new investigation that exposes the dangerings. first, apple begins production of its newest product, the i-watch. and a look at the most and least stressed out states in the nation. you'll be surprised by what we found. that's ahead. ♪ ♪ yeah

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welcome back. in iraq today, a massive display of force from america's new ally.

an estimated 20,000 shiite members of the newly formed peace brigades marched. they came heavily armed. some wore the iconic black masks and uniforms of the fighters american troops battled in the same neighborhoods just a few years ago. joining me, christopher hill, and matt pelak who served in the u.s. army in iraq and worked there also as a contractor for blackwater. one reporter at that parade today spotted people holding together the flags of isis, israel and the united states and lighting them all on fire. these are effectively our new partners. can we work with them? >> they're not our new partners. what we're trying to do is get a government in baghdad that is a government that has the support of the sunni community. and we know that that government cannot be led by maliki. so we need to work with the iraqis and find a prime minister candidate not named maliki who is acceptable to the sunnis.

so that's kind of the name of the game. obviously, the rallying the shia militia, this is not good news for us. this is a really further development in this sectarian war. i think it's important to understand that to be sure, maliki's been a big part of the problem, but the sunnis have never really accepted shia rule. they've never accepted it for centuries. i think it's going to be hard for them to accept any shia leader. so that is a -- really is a tall order. we have a sectarian conflict. moreover, as you've seen with isis collecting money from various banks in northwestern iraq, this money is used not so much for what we are concerned about, that is terrorist assaults eventually on the united states or something, but it's used to make sure the various sunni sheikhs in anbar and elsewhere are well lube bra da

lubricated with money. >> let me ask you, if you can't call these militias partners, can you assign a word to describe them? >> well, they are participants in the conflict. they're participants who make the conflict even more sharply a sectarian conflict and that's not what we want. >> okay. sergeant, i just spoke with robert young pelten and he is very confident that the u.s. in their sarurgical strikes will essentially eradicate isis. do you concur with that? this is a force of maybe 2,000, depending on where you get your numbers from. >> i think if that's the mission of the soldiers and airmen that get deployed there, they'll accomplish that mission. what's more unclear is what's going to happen next. once we accomplish the mission, similar to what happened over the last eight to ten years.

the u.s. military accomplished its mission. then what came next. and here we are. are we just going to reset things back to where we started or is there going to be a new leaf turned over with a new government in iraq and similar to what the ambassador was saying. >> mr. ambassador, the president has said several times the u.s. will not be sending combat troops. is that fair? or are these 300 inherently combat forceses? >> well, i certainly don't call them combat forces. although they're obviously trained in combat. and also there's a difference of degrees and a difference of substance here. when i was there, we had some 144,000 american troops and marines, sailors. now with about 300, i'm sure many of which have to deal with the issue of force protection, particularly for the u.s. embassy. we're talking three-digit numbers of forces. that is not to be confused with

144,000. >> sergeant, you had experience in your time there with the iraqi people and the soldiers. describe that, the reaction from both soldiers and civilians to the united states in your presence. >> you know, we experienced for the most part an incredibly grateful population, particularly in the early years. we were there to help stabilize the country after remosting the government, with the hopes that we would be able to, you know, help create a bipartisan or a tripartisan government. when you're able to help someone feel safer in their own community, in their own country, they were incredibly grateful, we had a good relationship with them, helped to train the police and the iraqi army to get them to where they needed to be. >> how difficult was that? the training? i mean, how far apart are we far perhaps the most well-trained military in the world? not even perhaps we are, to where they start and end up? >> it's extremely challenging. because of the communication barrier, right. the u.s. military's incredibly effective at training people to be soldiers.

we do it every day. when you can't bridge that communication gap, i think that was a failure on the u.s. military, to help equip and train u.s. military forces to be able to speak the language and to have more cultural awareness of the people we were dealing with, to be in a country and not be able to communicate with the people you're trying to help and liberate and help develop them is incredibly frus trailing. so they're willing participants. we had great successes with the training. i think in the high-level leaders of the army, you could see them have ownership of the newly formed army. but that only goes as far as the government will let them. and that's i think where things broke down. >> i've also read where it also depends where they start from. and you have said that many of them were, in fact, illiterate, which makes it did i cut ffficu training purposes. are you not surprised that isis has expanded its role there, its terror in iraq? >> not surprised at all.

i think people were waiting for this to happen. just no one really knew how to or prepared for it at all. now that it happened, the maliki government disenfranchised the sunni population. i just think this is a byproduct that. isis saw an opportunity. they took it. they moved quick. they were decisive. much like the u.s. military moved in in 2003. we were decisive, we had a goal, and we accomplished that goal. i think they've got their eyes on the prize. they know what they want. and the population in the north and west support them. >> the white house says it wants an inclusive government in iraq. are there any now or have therer been any coalition governments in the middle east? is this an impossible goal? >> the issue is not that in iraq there haven't been sunni ministers. there have been plenty of sunni ministers. when i was there, there was a sunni defense minister. the problem has been the sunnis never really accepted the idea that the shia should be in charge. that's the key position of the

prime minister. that is, the sunnis have had the position of speaker of the parliament, the kurds have had the position as president of the country. the shia have had the prime ministership. the problem has been the sunnis have really not accepted that. they certainly don't like maliki. the question is is if they company up with another figure not named maliki, will that person be acceptable to the sunni community? i think they can certainly put together a government that includes a number of sunni ministers. they've done that several times. the problem is, if the shia are expected to somehow share power in the sense of take the number one position, the prime ministership, and split that between the sunni and shia, not such an easy proposition. one has to remember and keep in mind, if you look through an entire arab middle east, there's been one shia-led government, that's the government in iraq. that's been the whole difficulty of iraq ever since we went in in

2003. >> ambassador hill, thank you so much. more tomorrow on "meet the press." among the guests, senator rand paul. let's go now to brazil and the world cup. team usa won over ghana. americans are flocking there in droves, buying more tickets than any other country outside brazil. tomorrow, the u.s. faces portugal in hopes of reaching the second round competition. it's sure to be no easy feat. nbc's bill neely is in brazil with the very latest. >> it is hot and humid here in the amazon. the u.s. players have arrived here at their team hotel with a spring in their step and a win under their belts. one more win and they're through to the knockout stage. they're excited. and so are the fans here. ♪ i believe that we will win >> spirits are high. hopes too after a first win against ghana. but portugal are no pushovers.

>> if we give portugal as many chances as we gave ghana, we're in trouble, but i think we can hold them steady. >> fans and players have come to the heart of the amazon. where temperatures in the 90s will affect both teams. >> you know, both sides are going to have to play in the heat and humidity and the americans will be ready for it. >> i don't think it's going to affect the u.s. as much as it will some other european teams that aren't used to the heat and humidity. >> the u.s. team has lost its star striker jozy altidore injured in the first game. other injuries have healed and the team is upbeat. >> we're excited. we feel like we've put ourselves in a good position. >> captain clint dempsey will play after his nose was broken in game one. earning the fans' respect. >> he's a tough guy. he played soccer very early on with guys that were tougher than he was. he had to learn -- he probably got punched and kicked in the face a lot as a junior player. so i think he'll be fine.

the question is can he breathe. >> red, white and blue are popular colors here, but these were french fans celebrating their team's five goals. a tally the u.s. fans dream of. >> portugal's coming back from a bad loss. so i don't know, i think it will be a good match. hopefully we can get a draw. and move on. >> shut down ronaldo and move on. >> portugal's ronaldo, the main threat, along with the heat, which at game time last night was stifling. officially, portugal is ranked the fourth best team in the world, with the u.s. ten places below them. but that will count for little here tomorrow evening. in a game portugal mustn't lose and the u.s. believes it can win. >> all right, bill neely, thanks. he was one of the most prolific and recognized writers of his generation who died far too young in a tragic crash. he left behind a unique story just now published as a novel.

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to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards. journalists michael hasting's life was cut dramatically short. his 33 years were prolific. with his rolling stone profile of general mcchrystal which led to the general losing his command in afghanistan. it turns out hastings was even more prolific than we thought. his novel, the last magazine, was published, a tell-all of his time at newsweek magazine. joining me now is his widow who served in the bush administration as a speechwriter for secretary of state condoleezza rice. glad to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> how did you discover thr book? >> a friend from newsweek sent me the novel a couple of weeks after michael died. michael spoke to me about it many times but i'd never actually read it. i sat down and in just one

reading just pored through it. it's so funny. it's so him. his voice pops off the page. i think anyone who appreciates his work will really enjoy this novel. >> do you think he really intended to publish it? >> no doubt. he finish pd right before he went off with his embed with general mcchrystal. that story caused such an uproar. then he got his book deal. so he always planned to publish it. so, you know, why not now i figured. >> if we call it a pretty thinly veiled look at his time at newsweek and talking about the people with whom he worked, would you agree with that? >> i would say michael had a very vivid imagination. so i don't really want to -- >> not going to name names. >> i think that's a little unfair to michael's talent as a writer. yes, certainly, life influenced art but i think this is all michael hastings too. >> have you heard from anyone about this? >> the response has been incredible. we have a book event. a lot of his former colleagues

showed up. they think he nailed this era of, you know, news magazine kind of at the end of a long storied career. >> yeah. i'd love to ask you two as a couple. i was fascinated by the the two of you. you worked in the bush administration, a speechwriter for condoleezza right, his life in afghanistan. how did you two even get together? >> we actually met soon after he came back from iraq. i had been in iraq at the u.s. embassy. his girlfriend had been tragically killed in an ambush. we met, introduced family, friends. my best friend from college's parents. then we stayed in touch. then we started dating about three years later when we both were in afghanistan. it was -- i was so lucky. this past year's been horrible but it was worth it just because being with him for even a short time was absolutely worth it. >> everything i've read about from you about him has been beautiful and extraordinary. because of the controversy,

specifically the mcchrystal piece, there have been conspiracy theories about what happened to him. do you care to invest those? >> i hired an independent investigator and went over everything about the accident. i wanted to have sense some of closure. i think he was such a larger than life character and he did such important work that sometimes we would like to make things have more meaning than they do when -- and explain the unexplainable. unfortunately, it just was a tragic accident. >> i'm fascinated by writers that are so talented. what kind of a guy was he like? did you sometimes just stand back and say, okay, let me just watch you go? >> yeah, it was never boring at all. what he -- one of his favorite sayings was if you want a boring marriage, marry a boring person.

>> you did not do that. >> i did not do that and life was exciting, it was fun. he knew so much and he was just so well read and he was so excited and passionate about everything that was happening in the world, about his work. it just was so great to live with someone like that and to really just get to see him thrive and feed all of his energy too. >> all this interview with michael, we should say you're no slouch yourself. what is next for you? >> i don't know. i'm kind of -- i'm enjoying getting to talk about how wonderful michael is and the work and getting to focus on the work and how -- i mean, it's been amazing for me just, you know, the bowe bergdahl story that he wrote. but from well ahead -- >> prophetic almost. >> exactly. the reporting has stood up so well. this book right now, the last magazine, at this time, pivotal time, we're discussing going back into iraq, and what he is talking about in this book about the drum beat to war and all of the liberal hawks who suddenly wanted to erase from the stage that they'd ever supported the

war. that's what's happening right now. it's so amazing what his legacy -- and i look forward to seeing his legacy yb develop even in the years to come. >> i think this book will help get that going, that's for sure. come see us again, thank you so much. what if i told you adding butter to your diet was good for you? i'll speak to one author who says fat's back. from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. we put members first. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs.

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well, fat is back. at least maybe saturated fat. that's the buzz from a recent "time" magazine cover which proclaimed simply to eat butter. it's from new research that finds saturated fat may not be as bad as presley thought. a new book helps to back up that study. it is called, "the big fat surprise." and claims why our obsession with a low-fat diet has increased our risk for disease. joining me now is the author of that book. welcome. a lot of us are going, say what? but the obvious question here, why do you think that all of these things previously bad for

us are actually good for us? >> the idea that saturated fat is bad for health goes back to the 1950s when the nation was in a crisis about heart disease which had arisen out of nowhere to become the number one killer in the country. there were a number of ideas about what caused heart disease. one of them proposed by one scientist was saturated fat. that scientist happened to be an incredibly powerful man. he got that idea implanted into the american heart association. in our very first anti-saturated fat guidelines were in 1961. but that happened -- but there was no evidence. there was no scientific evidence when that became our national dietary guidelines. and i spent nearly a decade going back and looking at at all the original evidence for the idea that saturated fat causes heart disease. >> something to do with president eisenhower, right? >> right, he had a heart attack in 1955. he was out of the oval office. it just shows you what a panic the nation was in when we were try to figure out what cautioned

heart disease. and that's why there was kind of a rush to find the culprit. and ansel keys blamed saturated fats and that turned out not to be true. >> did anybody notice the president was a four-pack-a-day smoker? >> that kind of fuzzy scientific thinking infuses so many of the studies. two of the foundational studies purporting to show saturated fat causes heart disease didn't control for smoking. you can't do an experiment like that today. i've gone back to the studies and two groups, prestigious groups of scientists, have concluded s ed saturated fat dot cause heart disease. >> you've gone from being vegetarian and coming back and you feel healthy than you ever have before. but there will be critics. saying this diet promotes

inflammation, weight gain. what do you say when a scientist comes back at you with that? >> we've had over the last decade good rigorous clinical trials. clinical actual trials that have looked at high-fat diets, comparing them to low-fat diets. it turns out the high-fat diets look better in terms all your risk factors for obesity, diabetes and heart disease. that means a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet looks a lot better, especially for weight loss. we always think the fat in food is going to be like the fat in my body. but that's just like this tragic home anyone. the fat you eat does not become the fat you get. >> where do you see all this going? do you think we're going to have another revolution, the one you say we were experiencing back in the '50s? >> i'm waiting for the mothers for whole milk movement to take this over and start. we need to have a different -- we need to change the nutrition conversation in this country. you know, these whole foods are really good for health.

they're nutritiknenutritionally. without the fat in milk, you can't absorb the fat in milk. vitamins b-6 and b-12, only available in animal food. so these are important rich nutrient foods we've been avoiding because we think they cause heart attacks but they don't. >> for anyone concerned about nutrition, they ought to check out the book. "the big fat surprise." thank you. a stunning number of crashes involving u.s. military drones. what will happen when commercial drones start flying everywhere. meatball yelling c'mon, you want heartburn? when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast, with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact. and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... tums!

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and the courage to approach john boehner. this tenacious 10-year-old and her mission that's a family affair. and new gadgets that could revolutionize the way we walk and talk. good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." the isis terror group has taken control of two now towns in iraq in the past 24 hours. the mayor of a town about 175 miles northwest of baghdad says it has fallen into the hands of the sunni militants. iraqi security officials say isis seized another town near the syrian border. at the same time, thousands of heavily armed shiite militia men are marching through the street of baghdad today, this being a show of force against isis, following a call from clerics to defend holy sites. isis released a new propaganda

video calling for new recruits. let's go to the white house and nbc's kristen welker. secretary of state john kerry heading to the region. what are the details you know about the trip? >> we know that at some point secretary kerry will pay a visit to iraq and he has a difficult task. he has to convince the iraqis that the u.s. is not picking sides in this conflict. and he's also going to deliver a strong message from this administration, which is that ultimately it is up to the iraqis to resolve this crisis. and they need to do that by creating a more inclusive government. we're also learning more about those special forces heading to iraq to help with the situation. initially, there will be a few dozen special forces. those troops already in iraq. they are going to be charged with setting up joint operation centers. there are going to be two. one located in baghdad. another one located to the

north, close to kirkuk. others of the special forces are actually going to be embedded with the iraqi military. they will provide strateg being advice, planning advice. president obama spoke with msnbc's mika brzezinski on friday. take a listen to what he had to say about the current situation there. >> some of the forces that have always possibly pulled iraq apart are stronger now. those forces that could keep the country united are weaker. it is ultimately going to be up to the iraqi leadership to try to pull the politics of the country back together again. >> now, alex, president obama was adamant this week that u.s. forceses are not going to go back into a combat role. as we come on the air as this hour, there are protesters gathering outside of the white house right now, protesting any reengagement in iraq. i was at the pentagon this week,

alex, speaking to officials there. they say the u.s. is seeking a written assurance from the iraqi government that those u.s. special forces will have legal protections once they enter the country. >> a sense of diplomatic immunity, that was part of the problem and why they left. absolutely. thank you so much. for more on the changing situation in iraq, i want to bring in former ambassador ginsburg. thank you very much for being here. >> good afternoon. >> what kind of options do you see the u.s. as having, sir, at this point, and what is the message you would have secretary kerry deliver who's heading to the region there when he sees the leaders there? >> for purposes of our viewers, let's divide this into parts a and parts b. part a is essentially to gal vannize the iraqi military in order to provide them the type of intelligence and guidance in order to take on the al qaeda-like terrorist forces that have been streaming across

the border from syrian seas in the northern part of the country and to try to push them back as far north as possible. so that's part a. part b is the more complex one. and that is in effect to try to ease prime minister maliki out of his job, even though he just won re-election, because there's a broad consensus across washington and across the region and particularly in many parts of iraq, that until maliki goes, there will not be any chance for any sectarian reconciliation in iraq. >> what is the response from the rest of the world, mainly from our allies in europe responding to what's happening in iraq? >> it's amazing how -- why are we the ones who have to be picking up the pieces here? after all, this is -- iraq was already in sectarian strife for the last year and we weren't paying much attention. bombs were going off, alex, everywhere. thousands of iraqis died last year alone in the conflict, the sectarian conflict, because of

the hatreds that have broken out since we departed. but it doesn't look like nato or europe is paying much attention once again because this all stems from two parts. one, syria. the civil war in syria. also, al qaeda in iraq was able to use syrian territory to regroup. and no one was really paying attention to what was taking place up in the northern part of syria. >> look, it was a coalition force that went into iraq to begin with, but do you worry at all that our allies are going to adopt the sort of mantra, the u.s. broke it, the u.s. has to fix it? >> well, let's -- i think in the end what secretary kerry's going to do here is stop and meet with some of our allies in the region. we're talking about saudi arabia and the emirates. to try to galvanize the so-called gulf cooperation council to provide more support for the iraqis so it's not viewed as a united states fight. i really almost don't believe at this point in time we can rely on what may be nato or europe

allies. this is going to have to be an effect to get those gulf states out of plain mischief by providing financial support to radical sunnis as well as arms, and provide space for political reconciliation. that's going to be the tough job for john kerry. he better get to it. >> the president said iraq needs to have a more inclusive government there. do any inclusive sunni shiite governments exist in the region and have they ever? >> no, you know, whether it's bahrain or across the divide into lebanon where this so-called sunni/shiite arc exists, there has been no country i can think of where there has been at least a modicum of peace fful coexisten. when saddam was the dictator, he used shia repression to keep the shiites under control and empower the minority sunnis. the same thing we've seen happen

in civil war in bahrain that more or less has calmed down. so yes, it's been this way and will continue to be this way and we're seeing the first sunni/shiite war break out in the middle east. >> mark ginsburg, thank you very much. to the u.s. border where president obama has announced a new set of policies expected to stem the flow of immigrants making their way from texas into mexico. nbc's mark potter is joining me now with more from miami. with a hello to you, what's the story there? >> alex, hello. as this crisis began to build along the border over the last few months and this flood of unaccompanied minors, tens of thousands of them, and family members made their way across the border into texas, overwhelming the processing facilities there, voices began ton rise loudly, demanding that the white house issue a strong statement and put together a plan to try to bring this dangerous flood from central america under control. well, yesterday, the white house finally made that statement.

children and families crossing the texas border every day. the white house is now trying to bring it under control. announcing that many immigrants will be sent back home. >> showing up at the border illegally is not a ticket into this country. >> customs officials say more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been caught at the border since october, along with 39,000 families with children. most say they're fleeing poverty and violence and were recruited by smugglers. under pressure, the white house says it will open more facilities to detain adults with children. and to speed up removal hearings. not enough though for house speaker john boehner who wants to send the national guard to the border. in a letter to the president, he said, the policies of your administration have directionally resulted in the belief by these immigrants that once they reach u.s. soil, they will be able to stay here

indefinitely. the texas congressman -- >> we should care for them, detain them, and then look at immediate or expedited removal. >> reporter: the administration says it will also spend more than $400 million in central america to counter poverty and gangs and to help repatriate citizens deported by the u.s. vice president joe biden was in guatema guatemala, urging officials there to rein in the uncontrolled exodus. now, of course, this issue has become very political, with republicans accusing the white house of sparking the crisis and demanding much stronger border security. the white house responding that it is now throwing lots of resources at this problem, including fema, and hundreds of millions of dollars to not only tackle the problem at the border but in the courts. and also in central america, where many believe the root cause is for all this. >> absolutely, investing there as well. thank you so, nbc's mark potter. news media in central america are spreading this message, don't go to the u.s.

part of the effort to shoot down the rumors that migrant children who reach the u.s. will be allowed to stay. media is informing citizens the u.s. will not give asylum to those crossing illegally and that includes migrant children. pope francis sends a message to the mafia. his trip to a mob heartland next. [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too. by offering things like on-the-spot data upgrades -- an idea that reduced overcharge complaints by 98%. no matter how fast your business needs to adapt, if hp big data solutions can keep wireless customers smiling, imagine what they can do for yours. make it matter. i'm j-e-f-f and i have copd. imagine what they can do for yours. i'm l-i-s-a and i have copd, but i don't want my breathing problems to get in the way

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had to have seen his picture by now it the so-called handsome felon that has female facebookers swooning. he was arrested wednesday on five weapons charges and one gang charge. his bail, set at $1 million. now, 30-year-old jeremy meeks' mom is hoping to capitalize on her son's newly found viral fame by setting up a fund-raising page. she did it partly to dispel what she says are stereotypes around

him. she also wants to raise $25,000 for his defense. she has raised just over $2,000. pope francis made his first trip into a mafia ruled session of southern italy today. he comforted the father of a 3-year-old murdered in a alleged mafia related killing. now, more from london. duncan with a welcome to you. i wonder what this meeting was like between the pope and this grieving father. >> hey, alex. it's been described as being a highly emotional encounter by the spokesman for the pope. it happened in private but it was in the courtyard of a prison where the father of this murdered 3-year-old is being held. apparently pope francis and the father embraced and the pope said to him, never again violence against children, may a child never have to suffer like this. also present were the 3-year-old's grandmother's and the spokesman said they were both crying like fountains.

the probe promised to make this visit back in january when he heard about the murder of the 3-year-old. he had been entrusted into the care of his grandfather because his dad is in prison. but they were both found shot in the head in a car that had been set on fire. apparent victims of the drug turf wars raging across the southern calabrian region. this particular part of southern italy is in the grip of an organized crime group. which not only traffics drugs around europe but around the world. one study last year puts the annual turnover of more than $70 billion. well, pope francis today made his feelings on the group very clear. he called them evil and said they were excommunicated. this all comes one day after pope francis waded into the debate about the legalization of drugs. in parts of the united states and in countries around the world, there's this growing

movement for the legalization of so-called recreational drugs. pope francis said there should be absolutely no compromise. he said the problem of drug use is not solved with drugs. so from those comments yesterday and from the emotional visit today and his condemnation of organized crime, he'd made his position abundantly clear. >> duncan, he promised to make this trip after the murder of -- trablg ical tragically, the murder of the 3-year-old. there have been inquiries about his health. what do you know about that? is part of this getting out and showing he's healthy? >> yeah, there have been some questions about the pope's health, because some engagements were canceled in the previous weeks. but the spokesman put that down too, saying he was preserving his strength for this trip. you know, it's a particularly rigorous trip, flying down to southern italy in a helicopter in scorching heat but he did it.

part of it is he wants to be out and about. part of his reason, his faith, is to be among the poor and the dispossess dispossessed. so he was also at a hose ppice meeting patients. >> thank you so much. apple's on the verge of something big that could be more successful than the ipad. that's next. bill have you seen my keys anywhere? i'll help you look. maybe you left them in the bathroom again. it's just the strangest thing... the warning signs of alzheimer's disease, may be right in front of you. it's alright baby. for help and information, call the alzheimer's association or visit alz.org/10signs

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two tech giants are on the verge of releasing new products. apple planning several versions of its smart i-watch. about a month from now, amazon's fire phone will be hitting the shelves. that's going to have unlimited photo sharing and one click shopping for amazon users with an app called firefly.

joining me now with the pros and cons is christina warren, senior tech analyst at mashable. welcome to you. what do we know about i-watch? when do you think it's available? >> we know a lot of rumors. we know a lot of various things. we don't have concrete fact. >> that's so apple. >> we're hearing a lot of rumors. i joke every day, another i-watch rumor. the latest information coming out is it will start production some time next month and we will probably be seeing the product in october. that makes sense because that's usually when apple rolls out their music players and the ipad. if it's october, after the release of the next iphone is what makes sense. >> do you see it as replacing something? also what about the rumors it's going to be body sensitive, if you will, measure temperature and blood sugar and things like that? >> i'm not really sure if it's going to be replacing anything. i think it's really going to kind of augment the overall apple experiment.

there's a new program coming that will allow you to track various health things with your body, pulling information from nike fuel, from fit fit, apps like that, to share things if you choose with your doctor. to track things like blood pressure and maybe some -- how many steps you're taking and, you know, your pulse, information like that. the sensor rumors make a lot of sense, especially when we look at the types of information apple has said will be available. >> can you extrapolate from popularity of things like fit bit and all the copies like that as to whether or not these wherable pieces of technology, where they're a fad or here to stay? >> i think it depends. i think google glass is a different category because it's pretty creepy. a lot of people are creeped out. then you look at something like the fit bit and they're all over the place. people really love them. if you take something like the

fit bit but add a fashion component that adds technology so you can get notifications from your phone. if you've got a call or an e-mail, you glance down at your watch. that could be popular. combining the best elements of something like the galaxy gear or the pebble watch with fit bit especially if it has apple backing, i think it would be really popular. >> lots of interest in this -- the fire phone. talk about that, what the cost is and the advantage over the iphone, if there are advantages, and other smart phones. >> sure. so the fire phone is going to be 199 from at&t. 199 for a 32 gigabyte version. available for preorder. it will be shipping at the end of july. its big thing is this is kind of amazon's big attempt at getting into the smart phone market. for years they had the kindle fire markets. this is the first time they've had their own phone. it's the phone designed primarily for amazon users.

i guess the two big standout features is it has this sort of three dimensional screen. when you turn it a certain way, it can kind of show you things with the perspective, they call it dynamic perspective. it makes it look like things jet out at you and makes you feel like you're more in the experience. the other feature is something called firefly. you point the phone at any object nearby. a bag of chips. a dvd or a blue ray. a sofa. it immediately can recognize what the item is and bring up information about it. and what's really cool is if you're watching tv like we're watching msnbc right now, it will pick up the audio and say this is what's happening live on msnbc right now, these are the guests scheduled to be on. the same thing if you watch a movie, it will get you exactly where in the scene you're on. if you're listening to a song, it will recognize the song. it does a lot of really cool stuff for identifying what's around you. the big question that's going to be -- is that going to be enough

for consumers to pick that over the iphone or the galaxy phone? >> i am sure there will be a lot trying. mashable's christina warren. thank you. she talked to john boehner and met the pope. we'll meet this young lady and find out about her mission. hing♪ ♪fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow♪ ♪fame, puts you there where things are hollow♪ the evolution of luxury continues. the next generation 2015 escalade. ♪fame [meow mix jingle slowly andright on cue.ks.]

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welcome back. secretary of state john kerry's preparing to head to the middle ea east. part of an overseas trip that will include europe as the white house continues to weigh its options. let me bring in former congressman and navy admiral joe sestack and republican strategist joe watkins. admiral, i'll begin with you. what are the worst case s scenarios the white house is worried about with reexpespect iraq? >> the worst case is baghdad falls to isis, this new islamic radical group.

any can then have a bastion that extends from baghdad to syria. they can then potentially over the years, because they're pretty sophisticated, begin to orient themselves to go to western europe and eventually to the united states. i don't think that's going to happen. i think the baghdad forces themselves are enough to stop them. to be able to roll them back does mean we have to provide some surgical assistance to them. the president took a very prudent, wise decision. >> robert young pelten was on with me earlier sir, admiral, directed to you he said he believes this force of what he says is maybe 2,000 to 3,000 that make up eye six depending on where you get your numbers from, he thinks the u.s. can pretty handily wipe them out, which i thought was very confident. again, with the precision air strikes you're talking about, do you agree with that? do you think they can be eradica eradicated? >> i agree with his overall

statement that this isis force who the number i like about 11,000, are so far extended from syria to baghdad that they are basically at the end of their rope. they might besiege baghdad but i don't think they'll go beyond it. right now, they're facing up to the special forces of the iraqi government. they're facing up to the real hard-core american-trained troops that maliki kept around the capital. i think they're at the end of their rope. the problem is going to be rolling them out because they're embedded within the cities and having the intelligence that only our drones, only our satellites can provide, to say, here's where you want to pinpoint your artillery or pinpoint our drones. i think that's what you need to roll them back. >> some of the architects from the iraq war from the george w. bush administration have emerged, including cheney, blaming prmblame ing president obama for the current crisis in iraq. here's what rand paul is saying. >> what's going on now, i don't blame on president obama.

has he really got the solution? i do blame the eye rociraq war chaos in the middle east. i also blame those who were for the iraq war for emboldening iran. these are the same people now petrified of what iran may be coming. >> are you surprised rand paul is not jumping on the bandwagon there, the gop bandwagon, blaming president obama? >> not at all. rand paul is somebody who really doesn't think the u.s. should intervene much in foreign conflicts. this clearly is a sack er ectar conflict that's going on in iraq, spreading into syria. i agree with a lot of what the admiral said. as you know, isis has taken over three cities on the eastern border of syria, near iraq, near the iraq border, and their hope is to be able to take over a key military airport. they are spread out. but nonetheless, they are on the move. part of the challenge, even the

global mail newspaper criticized the president not so much for being cautious, they think caution is a wise thing, but they criticized him for not having a plan, for not having a policy going forward that says this is precisely what we're going to do. the president has said he doesn't want to have mission creep. he doesn't want it to become something bigger than it is. there's not a clearly defined mission going forward as to how we deal with isis and how we deal with iraq. >> i'm curious, admiral, your assessment or your opinion of the critics that are out there of the obama administration right now. what do you want to say to them? >> well, i have felt, at times, that the president has been a bit slow to respond. for example, i felt, as i came on your show, i think a year and a half ago, and said that we should have been with small arms, giving some time of armament to the more moderate rebels that are in syria. so that isis, which eventually grew there, was able to take -- gain a base there and then come back in iraq.

but on the whole, let's remember, we kind of did, as general powell said, broke something in iraq. and once you break it, you're dealing with a lot of splintered groups out there that are pretty hard to control. and so my take on this is that this is another of very many types of islamic radical groups that are going to spring up over this world until this global war of terror is actually successful. i think the nice thing about the military today that the president is about to use is that we have transformed a lot. so that we're able to do it, unlike that misadventure when we went into iraq, that paul rand referred to, with thousands and thousands of troops, to minimize the loss of american lives. >> when you talk about the possibility of arming sympathetic groups with small arms weapons at least, is it

part of the problem, wasn't it then, identifying the proper people to arm? i mean, knowing for certain who you are giving weapons to? >> yes, alex, and that's a wonderful point. it's also why we're putting these 300 advisers on the ground in baghdad, to make sure the targeting that's going to be done is against the right groups. but we gave radios very early on to the moderates and probably some of the less moderate forces over there, and we give radios and communication gear out, we're not doing it as a gift, we make sure we're able to listen in to those radios to figure out who is who in the zoo, so to speak. once we knew that, we were able to identify who to give arms to. as you well know, alex, even after we made that decision, the execution of getting those arms over there was inexcusably slow. that said, again, i step back, that this president inherited a massive problem. and i think he mamd the right decision to withdraw from iraq.

with forces around that can intervene quickly with the right unique capabilities like we are now, if we have to, to protect our interests over there. >> okay. we've got a lot to pack in in what remains of the show. my apologies to you for being short changed with you. we'll see you again no doubt, as we will you, admiral. a courageous 10-year-old girl could be the new face of immigration reform. she met with pope francis in march to plead for help in saving her father from deportation from the u.s. this week, she approached house speaker john boehner to get more notice for the immigration cloth. we have approached speaker boehner's office for a comment but we have not yet received one. jersey vargas joins me. you're a very bold girl, to go there approaching world leaders. where does that come from? >> i think it comes from my mom and my dad. >> you do, huh? they must be pretty bold people. let's talk about your father.

that's the one you were out there trying to save. he is out of a louisiana detention facility, back home. that's because you brought attention to his fight against deportation. so talk about having him home again and what's that like after two long years? >> well, now that i have my dad back at home, like, my family's happier than ever. i feel like my family's finally complete. i think my family is avoiding being destroyed. >> well, that's good. i understand your dad's helping you with your homework. >> like, when i found out my dad was in detention, all of a sudden, my grades went down and my mind just went pure blank because i was really worried about my dad. >> of course you were. talk about the attention you're getting. i'm talking to you. i know you've been on other media outlets. what is that like for you? you're only 10 years old. did you think that would happen? >> i think -- yeah. >> you think yeah what, that you

thought you would get some attention from this? >> yeah, because when i went to john boehner, like, he, like, looked at me, like, directly, and then after that, he unfolded the cloth and he kept saying thank you, thank you. >> so that was good. how about the pope? >> the pope also did get attention because when i approached hi eed him, i gave h of like the same napkin, except it said -- and it had two birds and those birds represented my mom and my dad. pope francis, he also talked to me. he first blessed me. after that, he -- and kissed me on my forehead. after that, he said he was actually going to talk with the president. >> and he did apparently so. because your father four days later was taking out of where he was there in louisiana. where did this idea come from? how did you decide to go and try to meet with world leaders? a lot of people try to do that. >> well, it's, like, all the -- we got like all the help from our lawyer, alex galvez, because

he was the one who got the idea to go to washington. also, i wanted to -- i wanted to make a difference in the world, with talking with the president and more congress people. >> yeah, well, so if you got a chance to talk with the president, what would you say to him? >> since he wasn't there, but i would still say, please pass immigration reform now, because many families are suffering, and because we are like -- we also need rights. we are always like -- we immigrants are always the ones working for other people. >> okay, jersey vargas, i think you're someone we're going to have to keep an eye on. you have great things in your future. just 10 years old. thanks for joining me. it was good to talk to you. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. the hunt for lost irs e-mails ignites fireworks on capitol hill. the who the said what and why. and the new published report sounds alarm over u.s. drone crashes overseas but what will happen when commercial drones fly here? and now telcos using hp big data solutions

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you asked taxpayers to hang on to seven years of their personal tax information in case they're ever audit and you can't keep six months worth of employee e-mails? >> i'm sorry -- >> -- you know what, congress who is investigating -- >> will you let him answer the question? >> i didn't answer a question. >> yes, you do. >> gentleman -- the gentleman -- >> time -- i control the time -- >> the gentleman -- >> some heated moments involving congressman ryan during a house hearing on the irs. questioning about how e-mails belonging to former irs official lois learner were lost. joining me now, msnbc political analyst jonathan alter, also author of "the center holds." with a good day to you. lots of people. lots of critic of the gop saying how is this possible? the conspiracy theorys are running amok. is it plausible? let's keep in mind, as was

pointed out in this hearing, they can keep these seven years of information that are needed for your audition potentially but they've lost these e-mails. >> a couple key things to keep in mind. the e-mails were lost. they were lost. at a time before this scandal. so -- and they were reported as lost before this irs so-called scandal broke. so the idea -- the premise of the republican attacks are that lois learner and others at the irs were covering up something by destroying these e-mails. that's not really plausible because it was all before the 2012 campaign where these alleged abuses may have taken place. second, 67,000 e-mails from the irs have been turned over to congressional investigators. now, should they also as requested turn over the corrupted hard drives? in this case?

sure. if congress wants those, so they can have their own computer experts investigate whether maybe some of those e-mails they seem to be looking for are on those corrupted hard drives? fine. the irs should go ahead and turn those over. to assume the head of the irs is lying, which is what paul ryan has suggested, to a sum thssumes a massive cover-up under way is unwarranted. what's happened instead is normal bureaucratic incompete e incompetence. >> there was another one last night on "real time with bill maher." it was with the founder of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america paul rycroft who was squaring off against the journalist glenn greenwald. >> how do you know the information he revealed -- >> because -- >> let me finish -- did not cost american lives? how do you know that? >> what american lives? is there a single piece of evidence -- >> richard clarke and others who are apparently look at

information -- >> -- they always read from, what edward snowden did, he didn't release a single document. he came to two of the most well-regarded newspapers in the world and he said, i am giving you this material and i want you very carefully to vet it and only release that which is necessary to inform my fellow citizens about what their government is doing -- >> glenn greenwald was the one who broke the edward snowed be story. >> with the "washington post." >> that's true. >> -- "washington post" who's a much better journalist and less biased journalist than glenn greenwald. shared the pulitzer for that. >> huge fan. with regard to this particular incident there. history will be the decider here. do we know whether anyone has died as a result of the edward snoden leaks? do we know whether the united states national security is more compromised? >> we don't know that. and we, you know, have really very few ways of finding that out.

remember, like, when a cia agent is killed, his name isn't released generally. there might be a star that recognized that somewhere. so i think greenwald was right and snowden were right to bring some of these bulk data collection stories to public attention. and journalists have been doing this for a long time. where greenwald is way out of line is when he -- he didn't acknowledge this last night, you know, he said when he's had some reversals, well, maybe i'll release more of these secret documents. as if somebody elected him to make these decisions. and what michael kinsly pointed out in an article that greenwald and his followers viciously attacked in a completely unwarranted way was that these are complex questions. even if you think that the basic leaking was in the public interest, these are complexiple

questions over who decides, you know, should courts decide, should journalists on their own authority under the protection of the first amendment be free to make those decisions? and what greenwald does, without any acknowledgement of the threat of terrorism, makes it seem like its his way or the highway. it's a very, very high deo loid approach. people need to understand that he is a bad messenger on that issue. >> some will call that a slippery slope for sure. a year-long investigation by "the washington post" expose the dangers of opening the american skies to drone traffic. hundreds of large military drones have malfunctioned and crashed into runways around the world since 2001. it raises some serious concerns about their use here in the u.s. and that use is expected to surge. national reporter craig witlock

writes all about that in his piece, "when drones fall from the sky." why are they crashing? is it techtechnological? >> three main crashed around the world. one is that the satellite links, and the gps links that the pilots use, and the pilots on the ground to fly these things by wireless radio signal, they go down quite a bit and so most of the time the drone is flying fine, but sometimes they lose the signal, and they will go to where they are not supposed to. and other reasons are basic mechanical problems and problems in the midair and the big third category is pilot error, and we found them flying them upside down, and pressing the wrong buttons and they were crashing and pilots not seeing where they were going, and basic aviation mistakes. >> so what kind of training are the unmanned drone operators are expected to have and are these drones stressful to operate? >> well, for the military, and the air force in particular,

they are strict about that. they are requiring you to be a fully licensed pilot, and they give you constant training, but they have a lot of problems, because it can be difficult to fly these things, and it is not the same as regular aircraft and not the same as playing a video game with the joystick, and the people sit in front of the screens for many hours, and they can be complicated. the army does not require pilots to fly them. they have people in regular units fly them. they have had a lot of crashes. this is a big question when the faa talks about making rules for commercial drone use in the u.s. is how are these, the people flying them, do they have to be certified and how much training do they need, and we don't know any of that yet. >> do you get a sense that once these things start to fly in the next year, people will have to worry about drones crashing into the windows or the backyards? >> well, you will see in a couple of the stories coming up later in the week, some of these things have already started to happen and some of the things that may make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and at

least make you think twice about that possibility. >> that means that you may be coming back next week to talk to us about that if it is okay with you, craig whitlock, but you just booked yourself on the show. that is all i have to say. thank you so much. does the u.s. have a chance to win the world cup? a former participant will join me next. creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. 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.

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>> the u.s. men's soccer team is going head to head against portugal in the hopes of reaching the second round of the world cup and joining me now is a former member of the national team lindsey tarpley. a big talk of the heat, and do you think that is a concern in the modified play? >> i think it is going to be a f factor, but hopefully it is going to favor the u.s. being in hot, humid conditions and finding a way to win. against ghana, they showed the will to win and finding a way to win and getting three points out of the game was huge for them. >> and they went after it, because they wanted the beat the team who had beaten them in the

previous two world cups and eliminated them. why in the u.s. are we only interested in the world cup when it is a big event like the olympics, but the rest of the world is crazy for it, and it is like religion? >> well shgs s, it is part of t excitement of the world cup. i do think that by having such an unpredictable world cup so far and lots of teams doing well that were not expected to and some teams out, spain and england, and just providing the atmosphere and hopefully it is going to catch on in the u.s. by scoring lots of goals and having a tournament like this, it is only going to help the sport grow. >> give me your assessment as an analyst, josie altadore is going to miss the game, but can they pick up the slack despite portugal's cristiano renaldo plays. >> well, they have a lot of plays strategic wise, but they

have a strong roster, and the subs coming in made a difference on the last goal. i was so proud of the way they played the last game, so i am looking forward to playing against portugal. >> you and me, lindsey tarpley and thank you for lending me your expertise. >> thank you for having me. >> that is going to wrap up "alex witt" and up next is milissa rehberger. have yourself a great day. what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too. and now you get hit again.asis.

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[ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ >> we will go to iraq and fight as thousands of villagers leave iraq, insurgents have seized a border town and a new propaganda video from fighters outside of iraq showing new insurgents vowing to fight them. and what is in a name? a lot when it comes to the washington redskins. the team is caught in a legal battle over the name of the team, and i will talk to the woman who is leading the charge to rename that team. >> and there are things th