[ 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 that weigh on me knowing the

responsibility that i have. >> the medal of honor. kyle carpenter is only 24, and he is part of the elite men, and find out what excited him most about receiving the honor. and in court, a mom hugged a teenager who shot and killed her daughter, and i will talk about how they will work together to help other children. and biking an brain scans, and there is a helmet that can read your mind when you ride. i will talk to the inventors today. i'm melisilissa rehberger in fo craig melvin. the sunni insurgents have made significant advances this as secretary of state john kerry prepares to head to the region. now, let's go to aymon.

>> why this is so important is because now this will give the isis fighters complete reign over the border to smuggle fighters and weapons of fighters into both directions of syria and inside of iraq, but it is also now a major concern for intelligence officials who have been monitoring some of the propaganda material coming out of the isis-affiliated media organizations. some of the propaganda has shown the western individuals and western fighters and european passport holders engaging in the fight, and some of the growing concerns of the west is that some of the battle hardened and the experienced fighters who have gained so much experience on the battlegrounds in syria could return to europe with that knowledge and perhaps attempt to carry out some attacks. there is no indication that it is in the works, but it is certainly one more major cause of concern for intelligence

officials now that the border between iraq and syria has been somewhat destroyed and now completely under the control of isis fighters. milissa. >> thank you. with me is retired colonel jack jacobs, former medal of honor recipient, and msnbc contributor. how serious is this on the border town? >> well, we look on the map that it is compromising, because of the border there, but anybody who has been there will tell you that it is wide open spaces. you have a few towns along the border, and this is one that was overrun, but that border is really artificial, and there's no difference between syria and iraq as far as that is concerned. indeed, as time goes on, you will see that there is not a lot of difference of iran and iraq as shiite fighters come in from there and other places into iraq. so the border, it is important that isis is making inroads and very concerning, but in terms of the actual security of iraq, it makes very little difference at

all. if we take a look at the real problem ultimately, take a look at the map that includes baghdad and there might be some serious problems if isis is not stopped, because baghdad in the center has the largest percentage of people in the entire country and something like 8 million in the country of 30 million. you will see how close the green zone is to baghdad airport, and what is important is that we are able to help the iraqis to secure that if as and when there is an evacuation of the americans and the allies and to get out of central baghdad to baghdad airport. if we take a look at the next map, you can see that it is how the country is splitting itself up, and not in a very nice way. you have the kurds up here who are the big winners in all of this by the way. shia closer to iran, and all of this which is either sunni or a

m mixture, and you will see that in the places that there are of lap, huge dislocations of people and lots of civilians will be killed as the people are trying to bail out of the areas contested and trying to be more contested over time. and if we take a look at this map, you will get some idea of where we are. we have got people on the ground to be sure, but we have got naval assets here in the northern part of the persian gulf, and assets in the eastern mediterranean and we have assets in places like turkey and other surrounding areas if we wanted to project our power, launch air strikes and other ways to protect the westerns. milissa. >> let me bring in david from reuters. as the borders are porous as the colonel was saying, it may or may not affect the inflow of

insurgency in syria, which is having problems of its on, but what does this tell you about isis and the resilience and the funding and the overall power for them? >> well, it is a propaganda coupe for them. it is a victory to take this post. they took mosul as everyone talked about that started the whole crisis and the second largest city in iraq, and it is not clear, but there are reports of tens of millions of dollars in the main government bank and other banks in mosul, and they are trying to take the largest refinery in iraq. they have taken the refineries in syria, and selling the gas that is produced from there. so they are very effective at least so far in how they are operating. >> well, they seem to be going after the high value and high profile tarngt -- targets which is even as a group of a few thousand is enough to scare people, but now they put out propaganda videos in english and courting westerners to try to

bring them into the fight, and how effective is that do you believe? >> well, again, incredibly sophisticated, and they had their own twitter feed and there are ads there, and they were producing generated from twitter, but most of the money is from extortion. when they go into the areas they make the shias if they don't kill them pay a tax and christians and other members of otherrell juns, and all of this is helping them, but i don't think that in the military experts can say more taking baghdad would be a huge step for them, but they are generating a lot of positive publicity and definitely trying to recruit people. >> i agree with you completely. it is a big step and they are light to do something like that, but i don't believe they have an intention to go to baghdad unless it is handed to them on the plate. this is something that we are not concerned about, but we have to be prepared for it if it happens. >> i want to read something that former ambassador to iraq ryan crocker wrote this this morning, we are foolish to believe that isis will not attack the west

now that it has the space and the security to do is and this is a more formidable force than the group that brought us osama bin laden, and they are well financed and is it possible that they could plan an attack on u.s. soil under our radar and do you see isis as a whole new breed? >> ell with a whole new breed to the extent that they are sophisticated in respect to the social media, and don't forget that it is young people who have a tendency to be six standard deviation s deviations away from the mean. those people who are rabid and easily drawn into something like this is through the social media they talk to one another. with respect to an attack on the united states, they don't need an excuse to attack the united states or indeed any place else. under the radar and it has been done before, it means that we have to be much more sophisticated ourselves in keeping track of who is doing what to whom. we have an open and porous border and to the extent that we have people fighting over there

who have american passports and that is something that is going to be difficult to control. the real risk and the more immediate term is to europe where the, there are no borders. when you are in europe, you are in and you can go anywhere you want to. and they also have a muslim population that is not well integrated into europe, either the economy or the political process like they are in the united states which makes them disaffected and easily able to recruit people and foment the difficulties in those country, and so, yes, dangerous to us, but much more to europe in the immediate term. >> and another question is where all of this is coming, from because obviously a lot of back and forth in government and outside of government saying, whose fault is this? but you showed an interesting map that showed the breakup of the country of the kurdish citizens and the isis and the shia and we know that the kurdish and the sunnis are upset with the government for not representing them, but if there is a change of policy, do you

see it happening or would it be happening anyway? >> well, maliki, the current prime minister has been unfair to the sunnis and the kurds and that is why this has happened. the u.s. spent billions of dollars trying to create a military that is mixed in iraq to represent all three groups, and maliki has essentially destroyed it, and the former diplomats are el thing me that maliki has to go. if he does not go and this drags on like last time trying to form a new government as they had recent e llections, it took six months and if it take that long, iraq will be breaking into three parts. this is an immediate threat to europe. there are 5,000 to 10,000 americans in baghdad, and in is a political challenge for president obama, and it is not a threat to the united states now, but it is going to be to the united states. none of us know the answer, but i don't believe that we can ignore isis and what is happen ing there. >> and it is not going to be fixed in time for this to be a big problem and we have to act on it soon. >> do you see the hundreds of

military advisers making a difference? >> over the near term, no, but over the longer term, yes. >> and thank you very much. colonel jack jacobs, we will see you later in the hour to discuss the extraordinary honor of the marine who received a medal of h honor at the white house. it is a poignant conversation that you don't want to miss. and also, the battle over the r-word. >> a man has the right to run the team, and the title, and the title is inherited. >> i have been a fan for many years, and i identify the team with as the redskins, however, this is a change of that needs to be made. >> well, talking to the woman who is helping to lead the charge to rename that football team ahead. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

the fallout is growing over

wednesday's patent office ruling which denied the washington redskins refusal of the trademark renewal. they said that the name is disparaging of the native americans, and a charge that the team's owner has consistently denied. they have said that according to the patent office, we have 'n the story before and yesterday's ruling will have no effect at all of the team ownership and the right to use the logo. a similar 1999 ruling was challenged by the team the and they won a court ruling allowing it to keep their trademark. and we are joined by the long time native american rights advocate, and harjo is the first woman who brought that lawsuit against the nfl franchise. i want to start by asking you about the current ruling by the patent office, and do you think it is going to stand up this time? >> well, it is a wonderful

decision, and it seems very solid. of course, they built on the ruling before, in 1999, and in our lawsuit, and we is just delighted about it. the difference is that they had a trial judge in federal district court who overturned the experts, the trademark judges' decisions and made up new law saying that the technicality that we lost on stood for us having waited too long, each of the plaintiffs, after turning 18 to file the lawsuit. it was unique in jurisprudence. so they don't have that, because the suit that i organized that is going on now of native american young people do not have that problem. they were between 18 and 24 when they filed the lawsuit. in our lawsuit, they did not

overturn us on the merits. we won on the merits, but they overturned on the technicality, so that this lawsuit, the technicality is gone, so they are going to have to find something else, and i want to say, too, that in 22 years of litigation in both lawsuits, they have never appeared in court with a native american leader that would be subject to the same scrutiny that we all were, and on our side, we have all of the major national native organizations all lined up against this name. >> out of curiosity, why did you choose this approach to try to force a name change? >> when steven baird, a wonderful lawyer in minneapolis who was writing a law review article approach ed me for his article, and he asked a question. he said, why did you reject the lanta max section two of the trademark law as a cause of

action and i said, i have no idea what you are talking about, and he explained the theory of law that we could use it a as pocketbook incentive to force the change. it doesn't mean, and we hired him immediately. hired i smile, because he worked for free and the law firm worked for free and we would not have been able to do these lawsuits were it not for the pro bono hard work of all of the law firms that represent us. >> i am sure that you are happy to know that the issue has gained popular support, and 50 senators signed to the league to push for the name change and senate chairman harry reid spoke on the floor to call for change. >> and they say it is about tradition, but i ask what tradition? the tradition of racism? that is all that the name leaves in the wake. the writing is on the wall. it is on the wall in giant and blinking neon lights.

>> team owner dan snyder says that the name is not racist and he says he will quote, never change it, and why is he so adamant about keeping his team's name? >> i think that it's -- well, i don't want to delve into the psychology of the team owner. i will say that it is longheaded and obstinate to go against the overwhelming majority of the native americans, and to go against all of the prominent people who have supported us, and who have come to the same conclusion that we have that it is racist, and that it needs to be eliminated, and that it is not something that belongs in 2014 or even the 1900s, but it certainly doesn't belong today. >> suzan harjo from the "mo mor

star institute, thank you. >> thank you. and now, what we will see on this official start to the summer season, and indeed, the longest day of the year. we will be right back. [ amy ] when you're tossing and turning and can't sleep an ounce,

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if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. some other stories topping the headlines this hour. the cdc says some 80 employees in atlanta may have been exposed to deadly anthrax which is more than first believed. the agency says that the accidental exposure is because of safety protocols not being followed. they have handed the investigation over to the fda to avoid any conflict of interests. and now there are rumors believed to be surging undocumented and unaccompanied children over the border. the message is simply put, the united states will not give asylum to migrant children. and meanwhile, the obama administration is scrambling to contain the influx of them. there are border patrol

struggling to stay in control of them. and they are struggling to find housing for them. jan brewer spoke to the administration yesterday. >> the federal government needs to step up today, and speaker boehner wrote a letter today to ask the united states to deploy the national guard to the borders and get the solution rectified and we can move forward to address all of the other issues that we need toed a dressed. >> and the white house is granting new benefits to same sex couples including those who live in states where gay marriage is against the law. they range from social security to veterans benefits to those working for sick spouses. and it will also apply for people who are married to be buried alongside each other in a cemetery the. and there may be a specialis ex to allocate flood relief money to three dozen counties dunner a di ssaster declaration

according to the "minneapolis star tribune." on the rivers of the west bank yesterday, there was a section of hills and trees and road into the river. anne thompson has the latest. >> hi, milissa, the job of the banks of the mississippi river in minneapolis is how to fix the gaping hole that you see over my shoulder. that is the result of the mudslide that happened here thursday night after a day of absolutely soaking rains that sent tons of debris and trees on to a road that is very popular with joggers and bikers. that road is now closed and in fact, closed by debris that stands from 6 to 8 feet high. crews have been drilling into the soil trying to find out where the bedrock is, and trying to the figure out how best to shore up the bluff. there is no plan on exactly how to fix it yet. there are two buildings that sit above the bluff, a nd they belog

to the university of minnesota medical center, and both are inspected and said to be structurally sound, and no patients were in danger because of the incident. as i said, the mudslide was the result of drenching rain that has plagued not only the twin cities area, but the entire state of minnesota. and we have had homes and parks and farmland flooded, and so much rain that the state is within an inch of the all-time record rainfall. mark dayton who is the governor of minnesota has declared nearly half of the counties in the state to be in a state of emergency, because of june's heavy rains. i'm anne thompson in minneapolis, and now back to you, milissa. >> thank you, anne thompson. up next in a courtroom, a mom hugged and spoke to the teenager who killed her daughter. we will speak to them about how they are going to work together. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there.

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control of two new towns in iraq. and now as they take more foothold, president obama talks to mika briz sin ski about what needs to be done. >> you said that the war in iraq was over and you said that it was stable. >> it was, but just because something is stable two years ago or four years ago, it does not mean it is stable right now, and what we have now is a situation in which in part because of growing mistrust between the sunni and the shia, some of the forces that have possibly pulled iraq apart are stronger now. those fosts that could keep the kcountry united are weaker. it is ultimately up to the iraqi leadership to try to pull the politics of the country back together again. >> joining me now is nbc white

house correspondent kristen welker, and how optimistic is the administration that iraq's leadership can pull the country back together again? >> well, milissa, not a whole lot of optimism here, and a deep frustration here with nuri maliki, because the administration believes he is much responsible for the violence and the unrest that is wreaking havoc throughout the country right now. they say he failed to create a more inclusive government, and you heard president obama with strong calls to nuri maliki to do that going forward and in the meantime, because of a deep distrust, that is why you are seeing the obama administration send advisers, up to 300, to iraq and the first wave by the way, milissa is several dozens, and there are special forces already in iraq and they will be charged with a couple of things, and that is to set up joint operation centers, and there will be two. one located in baghdad and one in the northern part of the country. they will be charged with advising, assessing the

situation on the ground, and assessing the threat from isis, and then some of the specials for s are going the embed wig i forces are going to emp bed with the iraqi strategic planning forces. and so that is why secretary of state john kerry is going to be going to the region to try to talk to allies to try to come up with a solution to the crisis. >> and secretary of state john kerry is going to lead a diplomatic effort to get control of the the situation, but what challenges does he face there? >> well, milissa, he faces a number of challenges. first, he is heading there to try to reassure allies in the region to reassure the iraqis that the u.s. is not actually choosing sides in this conflict, and then this goes back to the point that i was just making, a big challenge is going to be to convey to prime minister nuri

maliki that it is in his best interest and the country's best interest to create a more inclusive xwovinclu incollusive government, and that is something that he is resistant to do, and then secretary kerry is going to reassure other allies in the region. jordan has taken in millions of refugees from syria and iraq and really suffered economically because of it. i think that secretary kerry is going to be charged to reassure some of the allies that the u.s. will continue to try to help resolve the crisis there, but he has difficult and steep goals as he heads to the middle east and europe this week, milissa. >> do you know how long he is going to stay or who he intends to talk to? >> well, they have not released an itinerary, but we know he is going to be making several stops and visiting iraq in the coming days and the state department saying that he is heading there

soon. >> and nbc's kristen welker. and make sure you catch mika's interview with president obama on "morning joe" monday morning. and it was last week when a teenager pleaded guilty to shooting and killing gina dejesus in 2012, but instead of rage and anger, there were hugs and apologies and understanding, and the victim's mother helped to broker an unprecedented deal. it allows the defendant to avoid jail time, and speak at schools about the dangers of gun violence. joining me is gina dejesus' mother and her attorney. firsts, our condolences about your daughter, and tell us about her and what happened? >> well, she is a wonderful kid. she is a very happy girl, very smart. very popular.

she runs in the early morning to take the bus to school, and she never made it to school. >> how much do you know about the incident, itself, and how it happened? >> i heard that the kid was taking the gun to school a few times, and with him playing back and forth, it went off and struck my daughter. >> i cannot imagine how upset and frankly how angry you must have been, because it is senseless and what made you carry out this incredible act of forgiveness? >> well, i forgave him, because i feel it is the best thing to do. i know that he didn't do it on purpose, and it was not intentional. i just feel that i saved a kid's life. >> and do you feel that, did you need to meet jordan howe first to gauge what kind of young man he is, and whether or not you

personally believed that he would learn from this and live a better life going forward? or did you just simply make this decision without it? >> no, no, i wanted to meet with him first. and speak to him and look at him eye to eye. really feel how he felt about the whole situation. >> so you feel that he is very remorseful? >> yes. >> what would you like others to take away from your personal reaction towards jordan howe? >> let me attempt to help her with the answer just for a second. you know, hours of time went into meeting with the judge, the prosecutor and the public defender in the case before ady reached the conclusion that she did. and the judge literally left the decision up to her as to what to do. at a point after the third or the fourth meeting with the

judge and the pros ecutors and the public defenders, then we met with jordan and the first meeting was the judge, jordan, ady, the prosecutor and the public defender which followed a meeting with myself, and ady, and the judge and jordan which followed a meeting between the judge, ady and jordan and then just jordan and ady spending time together. we really did need to be convinced. i mean, ady, she had made a decision the day after the murder of her daughter that she wanted the young man not only charged in the adult system, but wanted him to go to prison, and up until 90 days ago when we began the discussions with the judge, she still insisted on that being the case. you know, acts of forgiveness are different for different people, and justice is different for different people, and it is not as though this young man is going to be let go scot-free, because he is going to be serving a year in a secured detention facility, and in that year, the judge set out a number

of serious conditions for the him from getting the graduate education diploma from high school to participating in the discussions and the schools with ady as to gun violence and gun safety and the need to protect kids. but we have never believed that the kid did it intentionally, but a penalty and the consequence had to follow. >> i understand. ady, i know that you plan to work with jordyn together once he is released from the juvenile facility and meets all of the standard standards that your attorney just explained, but how do you plan to with him? i understand that you will be working with him at schools, and what would you like to see as your daughter's legacy? >> i would like to, i won't change the world and i won't change a lot of kids, but from saving two or three, it is a lot. i want the kids to know that it

is not a good thing to be with the weapons and carry guns and the dangers of them, and -- >> okay. >> the young man had brought the gun to school three different times before the fateful incident two days before thanksgivin thanksgiving. >> okay. we will leave it there and good luck to you and best of luck going forward and ady guzman and her attorney ron book, thank you very much. >> thank you. and still ahead, the man who just received the military's highest award. >> i am excited for the opportunity to represent the military and this nation. >> we will meet kyle carpenter, the newest member of an ae leet group of men to receive the medal of honor.

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that is today's big idea called the mind rider helmet. it uses sensors to map out the least stressful bike routes. it create s a mind map which shows the rider's sweet spots and hot spots throughout the route. through the route, the sweet spots will show the rider where they are most relaxed and the hot spots are the areas that require the most concentration, and the goal is to provide the best bike ride possible. and joining me is the person who built the prototype, and the writer and designer. i understand that you wore your helmet, and you rode here through rockefeller center? >> yes, we did. >> i want to point out on hostways helmet, it is a green light which shows that you are perfectly comfortable to bon live television. >> yes, no nerves. >> and for most people that would be bright red. >> absolutely. >> you said that you felt comfortable riding ore here. >> we did, right through the

heart of new york city, and both of us are very avid riders and been commuting from brooklyn to manhattan for years, and so, yeah, doing the mind rides has given us new insight into the individual rides. >> you know i want to try my best to stress you out, because i want to see it go to red. >> and sometimes you can think of a range of things from the chocolate chips and chocolate cookies and chocolate cake is when that sort of conversation will flair it absolutely. >> so what gave you the idea to develop this technology and how did you develop it? >> i made the mind rider three years ago when i was up at mit media lab, because it was around the time that a lot of the new consumer grade encephalo sonarography devices were coming out. so we started to experiment with putting the eeg into bike helmets and seeing what data

came from it. >> and how does this make for a better bike ride for you? >> well, for me, i commute over the bridge to manhattan ever every morning and it is interesting to see the hot spots, and what intersection or the street that does not have a bike lane that needs one. >> and you were saying that you like it when the light turns red and tell us why. >> well, definitely. it is different for every psyche clis, but for me in particular i will see a lot more red when i'm more energetic and in a way, that is the goal i haeals i hav. and other cyclists like you, you go for the green. >> yes, i'm influenced by the green. i want to get back to the green. >> tell us how it works. >> okay. a simple soft sensor that is touching his forehead and it has a piece of conductive fabric attached to it, and that sensor combined with the sensor clipped to his e ear, it takes a simplified data set from

hostway's brain and transfers to a color gradient from green to red, and so the sweet spot os or the hot spots that you are talking bt and then from ta h d held -- and then from that helmet, the data is transferred to the phone like a jawbone or the fitbit would transmit it to your phone. >> and so is this in the moment it creates a better bike ride or to build a bike for the future? >> well, it is a great kwquesti. i have seen both case questions. >> okay, i almost crashed at this intersection last time and now it is red again. >> exact i l exactly. you sort of build over time. you know, insights that you can apply. >> and all of that data. >> and you know, i have always been nervous riding a bicycle and people fly around central park, like nothing, and i have seen people fall, and so maybe this is going to be a helpful

thing, because i am curious, and i know that you created it for bike riding, but what other applications to do you see for it to have? >> well, we think that we can see riders using it, and commuters and new cyclists perhaps like you, and performance competitive cyclist, and this can provide insights while you are training, but then we have had inquiries from the skateboarders and the equestrians and paragliders. >> yes. and i can tell by the green light that you are not one of the cyclists who yells at people. >> no, no, i take it easy. >> people don't know that but bike ride irs in manhattan are aggressive and they are scary and yell at people, but i can tell yo that you don't do that. >> e vn i get a little yelly at the brooklyn bridge. >> yelly, that makes it sound so polite. and so thank you both for coming in. it is really a terrific idea. do you have a big idea? let us know about it on twitter

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kyle carpenter is the latest

living honoree of the medal of honor. in a 2010 firefight in afghanistan, he threw himself on a grenade that had been thrown in their position shielding his fellow marines. as you can imagine, corporal carter was severely injured by that blast. the president heralded his courage. >> that type of courage, kyle, you not only saved your broer ins in -- brothers, but you inspired valor in the highest of situations. the highest declaration, the med medal of honor. >> we welcome back in colonel jack jacobs who sat down with the hero to talk here e row to hero. >> reporter: how did you discover that you would get the

award? >> the president of the united states. >> what did he say? >> it is my pleasure to let you know that based on the recommendations of the secretary of the navy and the secretary of the defense, i have approved to award the medal of honor to you. >> he said that one of the greatest pleasures of being president was commander in chief, and he looked forward to meeting me and spending time with me and would see me in d.c. >> reporter: you are excited about going to the white house? >> i am excited, but as you said, it is a -- it weighs on me and the responsibility that i'm going to have, and i'm not timid or scared in any way, but i am excite excited for the opportunity to represent the military and this nation. but, it is definitely, a double-edged sword.

>> i mean, it is a burden to almost to everything, even if it is good. and you will have a lot, and you will get lots of guidance from the other recipients too, and everybody is going to give you his two cents, but most of all, we hang together trying to help each other out, because we do know that we don't wear the award for ourselves, but we wear it for all of those people who can't. i want to show you sh, because have my medal and i don't typically carry it around, but i brought mine with me. and this is the army version. you will get the marine corps version which is the first version created in the civil war. if you can touch it, it does not have less meaning. and remember, that has nothing to do with me, but it has to do with all of the soldiers who could not come home with whom i

fought, and all of the marines that you fought with who couldn't come home and everybody in between and it represents the valor of the people of the united states of america, so i am glad that you have a chance to grab it. >> well, i officially have chill s. >> i just got chills. colonel jack jacobs is back with us, and what a powerful interview. and now until the civil war, only 35 men have received it, and you are one of them and what is the tie that binds you together? >> ell with, the notion of service and sacrifice, and the same thing that binds all of the men and women who have fought for the united states since the inception. we have had tens of millions of american americans who have worn the uniform in peace and in war. their hearts are all together to serve the nation. and sometimes they have to serve it under difficult situations like carpenter did. >> how does it change a person's life? >> well, it changes it immeasurably, and you are no longer yourself.

i remember some guidance that was given to me shortly after i was decorated was given to my by general jimmy doolittldoolittle >> wow. >> and it was a long time ago and he was a three-star general and conducted the attack on tokyo shortly after the attack on pearl harbor so that we could demonstrate that we were really in it to win. he took me aside one day and put his arm around my shoulder, and he said, son, you are no longer jack jacobs, but you are jack jacobs medal of honor recipient, and you have to comport yourself accordingly and do you understand what i am telling you? and i said, yes, sir, i did. >> did you? >> yes, i did. and the weight that kyle carpenter is talking about is felt by every recipient, because you don't represent yourself, but everybody. >> and it comes with the responsibili

responsibility? >> yes, when i was decorated there were 400, and today, fewer than 80 which means that the responsibility of those who are still alive to go do things to demonstrate the valor of the american fighting men and women, and the burden is quite heavy. >> thank you for that incredible story. medal of honor recipient and msnbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs and as always, thank y you. >> you are welcome. >> and the pope's direct message to the mafia on his visit today to italy next. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

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working to save our children from that. and a decision in d.c. as a mayoral candidate is putting the lgb tesh lgbt population at a challenge to elect the first gay mayor. back to iraq where there is a march of show against isis with a call of shiite clerics to defend the holy sites. aymon is there to tell us more about the situation. >> the alarming thing about the march is that it was not the iraqi national army, but a show of force by one of the most

powerful shia militias that belonged to anti-american figure who for years fought the u.s. occupation, but today, he reactivated the militia with the hopes of fighting the sunni insurgency taking place in the northwestern part of the country. a lot of people are afraid that the rise of these militias is going to plunge the country into a full-blown religious war. the government says it has the exclusive show of force and calling on all of the militias to put down their weapons or join the national army, but critics say it cannot be solved militarily, but in kirbil they said that this situation has to start being resolved by nuri maliki stepping down. this is echoed by many of the

most senior religious leaders. but for the time being maliki insists he is going to stay in power and suggesting that he is going to solve this problem militarily. milissa, back to you. >> thank you very much. and joining me is former iraq vet and msnbc contributor, and also professor at carnegie mellon university and former adviser to newt gingrich's presidential adviser. and congressman, let e's start with you, the president has said no come can bat troops on the ground. is that realistic and how effective can the u.s. be with just a few hundred advisers? >> well, the president, himself, said it needs to be a political solution and not a military one. he has directed that 300 of our men and women special fovrss need to gone the ground to actm troops will be in the iraqi

brigade head quartered throughout the country like the one i was stationed with when i was in country with the 82nd airborne division. they are there to supplement the iraqis, and they will be facing some combat and getting more or theed at night and even though they are not kick down doors with the kinetic operations, they are going to be on the defense at night when the isis tries to obviously lob the mortar rounds to them, and then try to blend back into the civilian society. >> and now, general petraeus had some things to say about another u.s. involvement in iraq. let's listen to that. >> this cannot be the united states being the air force for shia militias or a shia on sunni arab fight. it has to be a fight of all of iraq against extremists who do happen to be sunni arabs. >> you know, there have been requests for drone attacks by

the u.s. in iraq in the middle of all of this, and the u.s. may not be the iraqi air force, but because of the 2003 ininvasion,s it now truly up to us to fix this? >> not necessarily, but we do have a role. we are the only super power in the world. we were the country that led the allied fight into iraq in 2003. we have deep interests in the regi region. we are an organizing force in the broader east and without us, the regional partners cannot act effectively. i agree with both what david petraeus said and what your guest the former congressman had to say, we are back in the k conflict whether we like it or not. 300 marines or the military personnel versus the air strikes, and the fact of the t matter is that the united states has to play a role unfortunately which will include, you know, the use of military power. however, we do that without the

u.s. involvement. this will become a full-blown sectarian conflict with numerous other types of wars happening at the same time, civil war, sectarian violence, and great power rivalry with iran, possibly russia, and then syria on the sidelines. this has to involve the united states. we have the moral capability, and we have the military manpower, the know-how and i still think the credibility to make a difference on the political side to help this not become a horrible major war. >> i want to read you both something from former senator joe lieberman says that what is happening right now in iraq will happen in afghanistan after u.s. troops pull out of there in 2016. he writes an op-ed in the washington post and i say, quote, the obama adm administration's plan for afghanistan severely raises the risk of where the region of the

attacks of 9/11 were plotted. and with the implications of the danger to the united states and the allies, congressman, is this notion something that the white house should consider for afghanistan as well? >> well, i have a lot of respect for senator lieberman, but the fact is that also in afghanistan, it takes a political solution. in afghanistan, when you had president karzai and just like maliki in iraq, neither one of those are effective leaders. in afghanistan, karzai's term is about to end, and both of the presidential candidates either one said they would work with america on a agreement which is positive, but in iraq,ly tell y -- i will tell you that maliki squandered a chance to get the dem xra circumstanc democracy, and they can get it back if he leaves. not months or weeks, but days. he is part of the problem. >> kiron, do you agree with that? >> well, not completely. >> that maliki needs to get out?

>> well, i agree that the maliki regime's days are numbered, but i believe that he squandered the opportunity to have a political solution, because the united states precipitously exited in 2011 and there is a american hubris that wars end because we decide to withdraw, but the united states has to be deeply engaged in iraq and afghanistan for the political transition to democracy, because we have been a force both militarily and politically in those countries. to walk away the way that we did in december 2011, i think that it actually allowed the al maliki regime to skwauquander t opportunity to be more democratic. >> and i positively disagree with the professor. we did not walk away, but maliki turned his back on the american influence, and talking about american hubris, and we can't do it for them.

if he wants a democracy, he has to reach across the aisle to the shia leaders and the kurds and we can't force him to do it. he did not do it. >> that is not what i said. i have never said that we should force anyone to do anything. but what i did say is that the whole notion that when america withdraws the wars are over, and that kind of rhetoric belies a deeper problem of understanding just the difficulty of establishing a democratic regime in a country that we had been basically in an occupation mode for a long time. furthermore, there wasn't a post iraq political strategy that most americans or those in iraqis understood. how do we unleash a democratic or diplomatic offensive in the country? not many americans knew that we had any political role whatsoever, and if we don't know, i don't think that the rest of the world does not understand. >> and on that noeshgts i wa-- i want to ask you one more question, does the fault lie

with the u.s. not being careful enough to specify exactly what we wanted out of the iraq war? >> absolutely. i think that, you know, there was a complications on both sides with getting a status of forces agreement as we were pulling out of iraq in 2011, but one of the difficulties of the obama administration, and this is not a partisan comment on my part. it is really a lack of articulating a clear strategy for the broader middle east and how these conflicts from syria to iraq to afghanistan to the war on terror, and how they all fit together and how one affects the other in explaining it to the american people so that there is a reservoir of support. when we have to do something like we are doing right now, and sending a couple of hundred of the military men back into that country. congressman? >> well, with all due respect what we want out of iraq is to bring them justice for 9/11 and to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction and for both of those reasons the strategy was wrong, because there were not

weapons of mass destruction and no connections of iraq, but afghanistan with bin laden and al qaeda and the strategy now is to make sure that the men and women do not get in the middle of a civil war of religion and that is a bad strategy to keep them there and to have continued american bloodshed and 4,386 americans killed in action over there is enough. >> kiron, go ahead. >> i agree with the assessment, but the president has said numerous times that his strategy, and his core objective in iraq is to have a sovereign intact nation, and that resolved the withdrawal and it is now not a sovereign nation and it poses fundamental challenges for the american public, and we don't want to be back in the war, but if sovereignty is the issue here, then it suggests other alternatives. >> well, we have to leave it there, congressman patrick

murphy and kiron skinner, thank you both. >> thank you. and make sure you watch "taking the hill" right here on msnbc tomorrow. and coming up, pope francis and the mafia and despite threats on his life, the pontiff went into the stronghold of one of the most dangerous crime groups. we will explain why he is there. and children tormenting other children. and mayors across the u.s. are coming up with a new plan to protect our kids from bullies. that is coming up. o with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get the right care and guidance-before and after the baby is born. simple is good right now. (anncr vo) innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ke me, if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me,

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one of the key suspects in the september 11, 2012, attack in benghazi remains in custody today. and just where he is being held at the moment is not clear, but he is expected to be brought to the u.s. to face federal charges. four americans, including u.s. ambassador the iraq chris

stevens were killed in that attack. and let's bring in chris stevens who is adjunct professor at georgetown university studies. >> good to be here, milissa. >> the last we heard is he is on an american ship in international waters and specific reasons for, that and would you like to explain that to our viewers? >> well, in that case, you have someone who is picked up by the u.s. military and transported by the u.s. military back to the united states at which point they will hand him over to people from the u.s. justice department. that is pretty standard. you will see a similar thing happening with the somali pirates and oerror thises who are captured overseas. >> but in the meantime, they want to squeeze as much information out of him as possible? >> yes, that is accurate, because he is was the leader of a cell in libya, and it was a particular particularly nasty cell ansar al

sharia, and so we have particular concerns of that gro group. >> and so he has different rights internationally than before he gets to the united states, so why bring him to the united states? >> well, the united states has indicted him and charged him with the benghazi attack currently under seal, and once he is in the justice department's custody, they will proceed with a civilian trial against him in civilian court. >> a lot has happened politically since that incident and should an arrest in the case have been made sooner? >> well, a terrorism investigation or the any type of investigation, the tempo of the investigation is very different from the arc of the politics surrounding it. you have to make sure that you is the right person and you have to get a grand jury indictment and all of the right things in place. justice moves at its own speed, and that is a different speed than the discussions that we are having about benghazi and the u.s. congress.

>> and the department of justice says that catala will be charged with a number of charges, and senator mitch o'connell believes that the administration is in a mistake in charging catala in the civilian justice system. let's listen to that. >> he needs to be interrogated extensively, and i hope that will occur. there is a tendency in this administration, as you know, to treat this like a law enforcement matter. read them their rights and get them a lawyer. >> and you know, going back to what we were talking about a moment ago as they were trying to squeeze as much information out of him as possible regarding this case, and perhaps other plans that might be in the works out there, and so there are differing opinions as you saw. so why try him as a civilian? what are other options that the administration has? >> well, certainly, the whole question of whether you try him as a civilian or in a military commission, it is really not an appropriate question to ask in

this instance. if you look at the law whether it is international law or the u.s. law, there are certain criteria that you have to meet before you can put somebody into a military commission. he does not meet those criteria, and so the fallback and the appropriate fall fallback in the instance is a civilian court. >> and people say, why not treat him as an enemy combatant instead? >> well, the difficult cull ti of defining people the way we have as an enemy combatant as we did in guantanamo is the gray area of the normal criminal law and law, and those two things do not line up together. you can try somebody in one system or another. and in this instance, if you look at the law of wall, it is not looking up to what khattla has done, but another thing to keep in mind here is, milissa, what the justice department and the others need to follow what the law requires and not following the debate of terror

ism that is happening on capitol hill. >> and thank you for explaining it to me in a way that we can all understand, christopher swift. thank you for coming in and have a good day. >> thank you for having me. and the pope francis and the italian mob. and hope solo is arrested after a domestic dispute. she is accused of striking her sister an teenaged nephew in that dispute. we will be right back. w it's evr 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. of swedish experience in insidperfecting the rich,ars never bitter taste of gevalia. we do it all for this very experience. [woman] that's good. i know right?

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he's only 14 years old charged with murder iing a schoolmate. police say that knoll es question vez felt threatened by his school matt when he pulled a knife on him. >> that is from our affiliate earlier this week about another

apparent school bullying event ending in death. that is the topic of a conference of mayors of the most common experience experienced by young people. the bully campaign says that all too often children feel they have nowhere to turn. and joining me is lee hirsch and the 2011 documentary "bully" followed the lives of five students who faced bullying on a daily basis. and also joining us from houston, texas, is aniece pa parker. what did you learn about your film since making it, lee? >> i made this film because when i was angry and angry of my own experiences of being bullied and i wanted to make a real activist fi film and in some ways the movie was that, but we learned a lot about how to actually create change can, and how the change the communities and the school districts, and you know, sort of

create that space where people can look at the climate and culture of the school and that's been the biggest lesson that reflekts itself in the initiative that we are launching here today in dallas. >> mayor, explain what you and your colleagues are doing today. >> mayors are engaged with the constituent s all of the time ad many of us with the schools. bullying has an impact of the children's achievement at school all of the way to the personal tragedies of suicide. as mayors, we have the convening power to be able to bring our constituent constituents together, and to talk to them about how we can prevent bully iing and protect e kids who are being bullied and how the inoculate our kids to resist bully iing. >> well, it is so interesting, because everybody knows that bullying has been around forever, but we are hearing more about it now. my mother always said, sticks and stones may break my bones and names will never hurt me, but the world has change and the internet and the cell phone pictures and twitter and cell phones and all of these things

were not around back then, but it is an added horrible thing to what the kids are experiencing. lee, i know that we will both agree that it is a problem, but we are also hearing more about it. is it because we are hearing more about it or because it is actually happening more? >> great question. i mean, certainly like you talked about cyberbullying and there are new things that change the landscape. you know, beyond just the brick and mortar stuff that happens at school which is terrifying enough. you know, i think that i actually am very optimistic that we hear more about it, because people are talking, and people are willing to share their stories, and coming forward, and i think that they are looking at transparency and one of the things that is hard about change when you are looking at the changing of the culture of ale school being transparent and willing to say we need help and we are not doing enough. and so sort of engaging the community in that way, and so we hear more, and i think that is a

good thing as a whole. >> there are a lot of programs out there focused on the bullying, and a lot of conversation, and so there is more awareness, but, bullying can extend furthearther into a child's life these days. >> earlier a california town tried to enact an tie bully iin measures that would even include an ordinance of fines and jail time. >> well, we believe as mayors the better way to combat it is to arming our kids to resist the bullying and making sure they know where they can go for help, but also to make sure that the caregivers in those children's lives have resources as well and that there is a community standard set. our attention is to not in any way criminalize bullying.

there is always going to be bullies. the impact of the bullying can be mitigated. >> and that is the thing, legislation can be wonderfully effective, but it can also miss the target. we saw people rush to create zero tolerance policies at one stage, and now most of the folks who work with the kids around these issues understand that zero tolerance wasn't the way to change hearts and minds and the culture of a school. so the mayor is absolutely right. we don't want to -- it is not about draconian laws or the criminalization, but it is about encouragement, and lifting up the things that work in the school, an concurrekand concurre looking at the conference of mayors at education as a whole, and the thing about this work is that when you change and improve the climate of the school, and every student is safe and welcomed to show up to learn, not only do we see a radical decrease in the bullying, but we see a radical inkrecrease in

performance of that school across the board. so there is a lot of value in in that work. >> we have so leave it there, but houston mayor and lee hirsch, filmmaker, best of luck in the efforts today and in the future. >> thank you. >> thank you. and new benefits for the same sex couples. the white house is going to uphold those new changes. and we will also talk about the iraq brain trust. when folks think about what they get from alaska, they 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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the obama administration is extending benefits to same sex couples where measures are against the law. this is what they would do, allow same sex partners of veterans to be buried next to each other in a national cemetery, and there will be death benefits for those who are in same-sex marriages in states who do not recognize same-sex marriages. and it is clear that the family and medical leave act applies to same sex couples as well. and we go to the white house and

kristen welker, and why is the obama administration taking these actions specifically now? >> well, a little bit of context here, milissa, a year ago after the supreme court struck down a key part of the defense of marriage act, president obama directed attorney general eric holder to look at the statutes to make sure that the law was being implement ed properly so that the measures are a result of the review by the attorney general, and it is really part of president obama's broader effort to expand protections to gays and lesbians including those who don't live in states who recognize same-sex marriage. and also worth noting though, milissa, this is a midterm election year, and it is an issue that excites the democratic base, and also, it excites some republicans and the proponents of same-sex marriage who have come out to accuse the president of overreach saying he has misinterpreted the law. one thing to look at is that

this issue is increasingly important for voters on both sides of the spectrum in the midterms and the general election in 2016. milissa. >> kristen welker, live at the white house, thank you. >> thank you. the big item on the president's agenda this week, of course, is the crisis in iraq. let's bring in the brain trust, we have the strategist and the former white house strategist for george bush, and also the president of the american values in communities and former assistant to president obama, and beth fouhy who is a msnbc contributor. and the president fought back isis, and made it clear any possible involvement of the u.s. military. >> american forces are not returning to combat in iraq, but we will help iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the iraqi people, the region and american interests as well. >> so the president is committed

to sending 300 special forces troops to iraq. do you think that the president made the right call here? >> it is the speech and the remarks he never wanted to make. when he ran for re-election, he talked about the fact that all of the troops were going to be pulled out and we would not have troops on the ground, but what we did is to blow an advantage of security in iraq and he realized that it is a mistake and he should have left forces there in the country and negotiated a deal. it is a difficult speech and difficult decision for him to come to, but it is reality and he had to come to it. >> and beth, the president has been under fire from some familiar critics, former vice president dick cheney and his daughter liz are among them and they detail what they see as the president's failures of the "wall street journal's" op-ed that said, rarely has the president been so wrong at the expense of so many withdrawing troops from the battle, and while that does not end wars,

and retreat is provocative and weak. and president obama is going to be remembered as the man who squandered our freedom and betrayed our past. and that left harry reid to come to president obama's defense. let's listen. >> if there is one thing that the country does not need is that we should be taking advice from dick cheney on wars. being on the wrong side of dick cheney is to be on the right side of history. >> so turning to beth. why is this already another p t partisan debate? >> it was never going to be that and dick cheney getting involved has turned from the former vice president of the united states to the chief troll of democrats on the internet, and the fact that he had the audacity to come out to say what he did is remarkable, because he is part and parcel of the disaster to go to war initially, but that said, no doubt that president obama is now in a very serious situation, and it is his war, and the old collin powell maxim, if you

break it, you own it. and so it is left to figure out. >> and i am interested in what you have to say about dick cheney and the criticism here. >> these are the voices that we need to hear as americans and we should have a good vigorous debate and bipartisan foreign policy and it is a mistake to say that what happened in iraq is all at the feet of george bush, because as we know joe biden went out to the country and said that in 2010 that security in iraq was going to be one of the greatest achievements of the obama administration, and obama brought it up in the re-election saying that he had achieved stability in iraq and pulling out the troops, and that is not true, and he did break it, and he does have to fikts and why not together and in a bipartisan way, and making swipes at dick cheney is not going to get it daniella, we ha heard much from joe biden on

this crisis, but in a associated press report, there was the then senator of delaware gearing up for the presidential run that said in 2006 biden propose that iraq be divided into three independent regions for sunnis and shiites and kurds and he said that they could om out in 2008 and ignore it, and he warned that iraq would evolve into a sectarian conflict that would destabilize the entire region and was joe biden right all along? >> well, it seems that he knew what he was talking about in terms of the sectarian violence that happened in the country when you go in and destabilize it like the bush administration did. i don't think that anybody in the office is, you know, running victory laps saying that we were right al all along, because it is a terrible situation there, and i will agree with matt that all of the options in front of the obama administration are hard and tough and none of them are great, but, you know, i do think that we have to acknowledge two things.

one, the people who broke iraq are the people who went in there in the first place under false pretenses, and the two, the reasons reason we pulled the troops out is because the iraqis did not want us there, and there is a lot of recollecting going on of history that not accurate. we tried to get them to sign the status of forces agreement to keep additional troops in iraq longerer, but they said, no, they would stick to the timetable that president bush made to pull the troops out by 2011, so we had to leave, because that is what the commanders on the ground said that we had to do. >> okay. i want to move on to another item on the president's plate. the president announced a new set of policies expected to stem the flow of unauthorized immigrants making their way into the u.s. from places like mexico, and the white house says that 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been caught along the border in mexico in the last seven months and the plan includes new detention scenters

and more immigration judges and money to repatriate those sent home from the u.s. the washington post reports that the new measures represent an acknowledgment that there is a widespread perception in central america that women and children who enter the united states illegally would be permitted to stay. so beth, what role does the immigration stalemate in congress play in this crisis? >> well, it is the latest reflection of utter chaos of immigration policy in this country. the defeat of eric canter, the house majority leader is a sign that there is not much progress going going to be made in congress around immigration reform, and the whole thing has a new heart to it by seeing the children coming to this country alone, unaccompanied and it reflects the incredible violence and destabilize violence they face in their own country. >> desperation. >> and utter desperation, and forced here to be in the stalemate to be sitting at the detention centers at the border with little sense of what to do next, because there is no coherent policy to follow.

>> and you can't help feel terrible for the children and the parents who thought that they would never take their eyes off of their children are sending them by themselves to a different country under the belief they will be safer that way than at home. and so daniella, i want to say that rick perry earlier this week, the governor of texas, pointed his fingfinger at the w house, and i want to listen to that. >> i have been haranguing and bringing to the attention of and flagging issues on that border for multiple years. i am deeply frustrated and disappointed in the administration's response. >> daniella, as we were talking about with beth, you can imagine the parents' desperation of putting the child through peril of trying to enter the country illegally by themselves, thinking they would be safer than at home where it is violent. what could the white house have done differently to wave off the flux of these undocumented

immigrants and especially the children? >> well, it is a difficult situation, and like you are saying, they are leaving situations that many people in the country can even fathom, and they are also being told back home, that if you send your kids here sh, that they will be able immigrate and basically disappear into the system. so a lot of the parents are desperate for one, but two, fed some lies by people who are looking to profit off of the smuggling the kids across the border. so i don't know how much more the administration could have done to prevent that, those set of circumstances from happening, but i think that they are starting to take some step to build up the infrastructure to deal with the ip flux of all of the kids coming in, but it is a complex situation with many factors causing it to happen, and it is no silver bullet, and unfortunately that is going to solve the issue. when you have people that desperate to leave their home, and we have seen it happen before, they are going to find a way to get to where they want to go. >> and matt, one more quick question to you, and the white house is planning to spend $9

million to repatriate citizens from foreign countries, and how effective do you feel that the plan will be? >> well, it is one of the problems, because oftentimes we detain people and send them home, and they come back again and we have a border problem. it is one of the things that president obama has realized. and everybody who wants to see the immigration system fixed, because it is definitely broken, they all acknowledge it starts with the securing the borders. and people should not be able to cross the borders and the store is are of these kids break your heart. it is seeming terrible, but it is not the fact that they are all leaving violent situations as terrible as that is, but it is because they want a brighter economic future and it is wonderful that america still sees as the brightest place for the brightest economic future, but we have to enforce the laws and we will get nothing done on immigration without securing that border first. >> we have to go, but thank you all for joining me. >> thank you.

>> thank you. >> thank you. and pope francis versus the mafia. we will explain what brought him to this place in italy today. [cat meows] [laughs] ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with 100% complete and balanced nutrition, and the taste, textures and variety cats love, it's the only one cats ask for by name. [ squeaking ] [ water dripping ] visit tripadvisor hawaii. [ whistling ]

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good is maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop . >> pope francis is in italian mob territory today. he went to town where there is a three-year collaborate. there were threats against the pope, but he plans to attempt to address some of the biggest problems which are organized crime and unemployment among young people. >> milissa, the pope's visit is described as highly emotional by a spokesman. it took place in the courtyard of a prison where the father of a murdered eed toddler is held. may a child never again have to suffer like this, he said. the boy's two grand moers the were present and the spokesman

described them as crying like fountains. pope francis promised to make this trip when he heard about the murder of the 3-year-old in january, and the boy had been entrusted into the care of his grand grandfather, because his dad was in father. cocoa and his grandfather were shot in the head and left in a car which was set alit. the murders were blamed on the drug turf war across the southern region. it is gripped by an organized crime group which traffic drugs around the world. one study put the annual turnover at $17 billion. well, today, pope francis called the group evil and said that mafioso were excommunicated. this visit comes a day after he made the position on the legalization of drugs absolutely clear in remarks yesterday where he said that there should be no compromise on drugs. of course, in the united states, in parts of the united states and in countries around the world, there has not been this growing movement for the legalization of so-called

recreational drugs. well, yesterday and today, the pope francis making his position absolutely clear. milissa. >> nbc's duncan goalistani, thank you. and a difficult decision in d.c. does the lgbt help to elect the first openly gay mayor or another democrat? we will talk about what this means for gay rights in america. . you are saying "frog protection"? fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection. get it at discover.com at legalzoom virtually all yourof important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. ♪

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in the nearly four decades since washington d.c. began electing mayors they have elected heterosexual. that could change. bowser would be the second woman to serve. it's putting gay activists in a rath rath rather peculiar position.

you could become the first openly gay mayor elected in washington, d.c. have you found that that's a defining issue in this campaign or do you think we're at a point as a society where candidates sexuality, gender, don't factor as much into a person's vote anymore? >> i was first elected to the council in 1997 as the first openly gay member. in the 17 years since first elected, the progress we've made on lgbt issues in the city have diminished. i think the importance or symbolism of having an lgbt mayor. do i think it's a central issue in this campaign? absolutely not. >> what is your pitch to gay rights activists? should they vote for the gay candidate or stick to the party who has advanced major milestones in their community? >> i've never asked individuals from the lgbt community to vote

for me based on status. i've asked on people's votes based on what i've done. in nearly 17 years i've been an architect and champion of some of the most progressive legislation in our city. i authored the marriage equality bill. i cut the city's rate of uninsured in half. now as the chairman of the committee on education i've been the architect of at-risk funding. my pitch isn't for any particular community. it's for the entire city and why i believe they will embrace me is because our values are the same. sgr y >> you mentioned the public school system which is a big problem. it's been the subject of numerous books and documentaries but it's still seen as one of the biggest problems that cannot be fixed. given your experience what do you see as the biggest problem

with the public education system in washington, d.c. >> as i mentioned, 18 months ago i became the chairman of committee on education. the first thing i wanted to do was understand the problem more thoroughlily. last week i finished my 144th substantive school visit. talking with school leaders on how to set the school up to skds a succeed and remove the barriers. we've done a lot. we have implemented an at-risk funding formula to give additional resources to kids at-risk of academic failure. it's a long road to dig ourselves out of. we have some incredible public schools in our city. we have some that focus. it's the last great frontier. washington is on a great role. we have one of strongest economies in the country. all the fundamentals are there.

there's no question that we have to focus on. >> i want to quickly ask you one thing. a march poll shows you 30 points behind. how do you plan to close that gap? >> that was a poll taken when my opponent had been campaigning for well over a year and spent a million years the weeks leading up to the poll. the pole wl was announctaken af announced. >> we'll have to leave it there. good luck to all the candidates. thank you very much. as we approach the one-year anniversary of the supreme court decision to strike down the defensive marriage act, nbc is asking men and women to reflect on what it means to them and the challenges already ahead for lgbt rights. visit speak out on msnbc.com. thank you so much for watching. we'll be back tomorrow starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern time.

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