>> heck just look at everything from up in the sky. >> the borderlands deserve a presidential visit. >> officials say help is not coming here quick enough. then, hobby lobby summer. how democrats plan to go all out to mobilize the women's vote to fight back on contraception. and nevada, assemblywoman lucy flores, who's gone from a gang affiliated high school dropout to being on track to become one of the most high-profile women politicianings in the country. she'll be here and we'll talk immigration, the border crisis, and her amazing story. we begin with the white house, which is once again in crisis mode, with president obama drawing plenty of criticism over a fundraising trip to texas that does not include a stop at the border. >> i'm sure that president bush thought the same thing, that he could just look at everything from up in the sky, and then he owned that for a long time. i hope this doesn't become the

katrina moment for president obama, saying that he doesn't need to come to the border. he should come down. >> and while calling things obama's katrina has become a thing on the right, everything from the 2010 gulf oil spill to the iraqi civil war has been qualified for comparison to the previous president's hurricane debacle. and this democratic katrina name check actually does reference a real thing. the optics of the president not personally viewing an unfolding crisis. while all that is true, there is some actual value in mentioning george w. bush. back in 2008 it was president bush who signed the then-uncontroversial law that makes it more difficult to deport children to central america. though this morning on ""the daily rundown,"" congressman todd cole insists that the current crisis has nothing to do with president bush. >> i don't think this is the 2008 law. that law was in effect for four years, and we didn't have the problem. this is the oldest trick in the obama book. blame george bush. it happened in 2008. really? >> as part of president obama's

plan to address what human rights activists are calling a genuine refugee crisis, he's asking congress to tweak the language of that 2008 law, which was originally designed to protect child trafficking victims. the white house also announced a request today for $3.7 billion in emergency funds from congress. all that as the president hits the road today heading to d denver, dallas, and austin. tomorrow he'll meet with texas governor rick perry in dallas. the meeting was scheduled after governor perry wrote a strongly worded letter to president obama that read in part, a quick handshake on the tarmac will not allow for a thoughtful discussion regarding the humanitarian and national security crises enveloping. perry bacon is nbc's senior political correspondent. how is the white house responding to a democratic using the "k" word? >> they've played that down so far. they've talked about this being a humanitarian, a refugee crisis

and suggest the katrina comparison is ridiculous. 2,000 people died around the time of the hurricane. this is a difficult crisis completely. >> was the white house sort of caught off guard by the reaction of supporters to these announcements announcements, which all seem to center around deportation? >> no, they're not surprised because they knew that this deep -- the issue of deporting children is challenging because the republicans say deport people quickly. a lot of them are saying that. they knew from the left -- nancy pelosi and others have said they don't want to change the 2008 law. they don't want deportation of children to be easier. they want a middle ground reached here. the president has been pretty cautious in his language. he's encouraged children not to come here, but he's not -- the white house has not been definitive in saying we want to send everybody back quickly. the proposal they're rolling out is focused more on creating a

process to eventually have children go back instead of sending them back all at once rapidly. >> let's talk about that $3.7 billion request. what is the funding earmarked for, should it go through? >> the large part of the funding is to sort of have more judges and to speed up the process by which these children go through. the children can't be sent back immediately. they want to speed up the process. more judges, more border control agents to push people through it and to get them on the track back either to being with a family member or being sent back to where they're from. that's the core of it, to speed up the process. >> all right. nbc's perry bacon, thank you very much. joining me now is congressman luis gutierrez and wendy young, president of kids in need of defense, a group that provides legal representation for unaccompanied children. congressman gutierrez, i want to start with you. you've been very vocal, very passionate on this issue of these kids. does it surprise you that the white house is not changing its plans, not having the president

actually visit the border, visit the places where these children are being housed while he's in texas? >> i think it would be a good idea for the president to see it. i'm sure he's well informed about what's going on. but on the bigger picture of things, i want to make sure that we continue to treat children the way we have organized our judicial system to treat children. you know, it's easy to say it's not -- i don't blame this on george bush. it was a democratically controlled house of representatives. it was an anti-human trafficking law, but the law is the law. you can't have on the one hand leaders of the republican party, especially in the house of representatives say, oh, you know what, we're not going to do kpe hence i immigration reform because we don't trust the president to enforce the law. then when the president enforces the law and follows the law when it comes to unaccompanied minors, and the law is very clear, joy.

72 hours, they've got to be out of the custody of the border patrol. they have to be with health and human services. they're supposed to be put in the least restrictive setting. these are children. if you find a parent, you're supposed to put them with that parent. and you cannot expedite their removal unless, of course, they're canadian or mexican. then you can. what does that mean you can't expedite? the law says they have to be given a trial. they have to be brought before a judge. i think that's the right way to treat children. that was the law that we developed before we got into pointing fingers and scapegoating children that are refugees at our border. so i think, look, the president has been correct in stating that this is a humanitarian crisis, he's going to deal with it. i think it's a good idea to have more judges and to expedite the process. i believe, unfortunately, most -- every one of those children and adults that have arrived here are being put in removal proceedings. i believe that most of them will

lose their cases. but you know what? the law is the law. and children have to be given their time before a judge and in court. and i don't want to quickly judge because what if they have a credible fear? what if they should have received asylum? i don't want to undermine. i want to quicken the process without undermining the rights of those children. i think fundamentally this is america and we treat children differently. >> and you know, wendy, the other issue here is because of the situation that's happening in the countries where these children mainly come from, in guatemala, in nicaragua and other countries, the united nations is already starting to look at it and say these children should be treated as refugees. the u.s. and mexico should recognize this is a refugee situation, that they're leaving for some reason saying, let's not send them back in a mechanical way but rather evaluate the reasons they left their countries. do you see this as a crisis that is akin to some other refugee crises we've seen around the

world, and should the united states be treating it as such? >> absolutely. we may not be used to seeing refugee crises in our own back neighborhood, but that's exactly what this is. these children are fleeing extreme violence in central america that's very specifically targeting them as children. it's violence inflicted on them by drugs and narco traffickers, mainly. we're used to refugees being in africa, the middle east, far away. but we have a responsibility under our laws to sort out which children need protection and which children can be safely returned home. we can do that through timely, full hearings before immigration judges with children appropriately represented by counsel. some kids do need protection. we estimate about half of them need protection in the united states. and we owe it to them as children to sort that out in a timely fashion but in a fair and objective way. >> and congressman gutierrez, your colleague raul labrador said on "meet the press" that the administration needed to immediately deport these

families. a pretty harsh statement. how do you respond to that? >> i guess, yeah, my buddy raul said that it would be -- that it was harsh. then he said it would be difficult. no, raul. it's not harsh. it's not difficult. it's illegal. it's against the law. it's against the expressed will of the congress of the united states. by people who made a judgment about children. and it's not only the 2008 law. when we created the department of homeland security in 2002, we basically codified a decision, an agreement that was made between the justice department and plaintiff for unaccompanied minors in which we said we're going to treat the children differently. so the jurisprudence on this and the history of how america says it's going to treat unaccompanied children when they arrive on our borders is well established. of course, it was established outside of the tea party and outside of those who want to

point fingers at what's happening at the border. look, the president has huge problems to deal with. i hope he goes down to the border, yes, i do. but i am happy to see that homeland security is transferring the children, is spending the time and the money to reunite them with their families. i understand that half of the children are being reunited with their moms and dads. that's a good thing. and then we'll wait for their day in court. i want to expedite the process. i think that's a good idea, having more judges. but at the same time, like wendy, i'm sure we don't want to undermine the right that we establish for those children in calmer, saner times than the ones we live in today. >> yeah, indeed. last word to you, wendy. do you feel the administration has handled the situation well, or is there something you think they could be doing differently? >> certainly they engaged in emergency respond from the get go. that was absolutely necessary. we had to provide basic care for these children. now it's time to work towards a comprehensive, full solution so

we protect those children who need it and we address the root causes in the sending countries so the kids can remain home safely some day. >> all right. congressman luis gutierrez and wendy young, thank you both. >> thank you. now to developments in the middle east where israel is poised for a possible ground invasion. they called up 40,000 reservists today and conducted nearly 1,000 air strikes. israeli tv reports say rockets targeting tel aviv were intercepted. tensions in the region have escalated after three israeli teens were abducted and killed and a 16-year-old palestinian was killed in an apparent revenge attack. his american cousin of tampa, florida, remains under house arrest in israel. today his family called for his immediate release and asked the u.s. government to help end the violence. coming up, how the supreme court's ruling on hobby lobby has jolted democrats into action and on a mission to mobilize the

women's vote. and seeing green. washington state becomes the second u.s. state to allow the legal sale of recreational marijuana. could other states follow? we'll discuss. ♪ in the nation, the safest feature in your car is you. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. which for you, shouldn't be a problem. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. nationwide is on your side. are those made with all-beef, karen? yeah, they're hebrew national. but unlike yours, they're also kosher. kosher? yeah, they're really choosy about what goes in. so, only certain cuts of kosher beef meet their strict standards and then they pick the best from that. oh man! what'd we do? they're all ruined.

help yourself! oh no, we couldn...okay thanks. when you hot dog's kosher, thats a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national. [ jackhammer pounding, horns honking ] [ siren wailing ] visit tripadvisor miami. [ bird chirping ] with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. with millions of reviews, means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm.

so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter.

more than a week after the supreme court's multipronged offensive on women's access to contraception, the fallout and controversy continue. in burbank, california, yesterday, protesters descended on the grand opening of a hobby lobby store, chanting and waving posters and urging would-be customers to take their business elsewhere. meanwhile, lawyers representing guantanamo bay prisoners are now invoking the supreme court ruling, arguing that if corporations are allowed to have religious rights, detainees should do. and harry reid vowed that

democrats will take up legislation in the coming weeks to address last month's supreme court decision. indeed, the hill reports today that between the house and the senate, at least three pieces of legislation are being prepared by democrats that would help maintain access to free birth control for women affected by the court's ruling. now the question is, what can democrats actually accomplish? goldie taylor is an msnbc contributor and columnist at thegrio.com. so that's the rub. the senate could potentially get something through. harry reid and the democrats control it. once it gets to the house, are you hopeful at all any legislation could pass? >> not in the least bit. when the supreme court allowed this corporate veil to be pierced, it was like tearing the curtain. we're going to see many more pieces of legal action that challenge how we govern companies, prisons, nonprofits,

how we govern ourselves as a society based upon someone's closely held religious values. what i anticipate is there's going to be quite an uproar when a nonchris mtianonchristian, a , comes forward with their closely held religious values and how that plays out in this supreme court. >> yeah, and in a sense it's already happening with the guantanamo bay prisoners. their lawyer is arguing they want to have religious rights as muslims to be able to pray. if you had a muslim business owner decide there was something in their faith that precluded them from providing a benefit to their employees, it would be interesting to see how that's received by this court. >> absolutely. you know, i have cousins who were raised in the jehovah witness tradition, and they don't believe, for instance, in blood transfusions. if they were, for instance, to own a family business, such as a hobby lobby, they could have

made this very same challenge using justice alito's rational. their challenge would have had to have stood up that they didn't have to cover, say, blood transfusions, you know, in company insurance policies. so this has vast implications that, you know, as justice ruth bader ginsburg said, this is a minefield, and i'm just not sure people understand, you know, where on the land these mines have been laid. >> in addition to that, you did have samuel alito saying the ruling was limited. then the court turned around and within 24 hours said, oh, by the way, it's a lot broader than we said it was a couple days ago. >> absolutely. you've got republicans out here because they now understand that there are political consequences to this coming this fall and coming up on 2016. can you imagine, you know, a row of eight to ten republican candidates one by one being asked, where do you stand on wheaton? where do you stand on hobby lobby? and all of them, because of the republican base and some of the extremism that lies there, would have to answer, i agree with the

court on this. can you understand what kinds of reactions single women, married women, even republican women may have to a cast of candidates who would all have to say publicly they stand behind a ruling like this for political purposes? i think that's going to be damaging to this gop, not just in the short-term in terms of 2014, but in terms of the next generation. when you turn to ask republican candidates, where do you stand on wheaton, this is the new question of roe v. wade. this is a brand new litmus test. i'm not sure republicans are prepared to answer it. >> more to the point, where do you stand on contraception? you're in georgia, a state that's got major statewide race coming up, including a senate race that happens to have a woman running in it. are you starting to see any ripples from this decision actually in the political zeitgeist down there where you are? >> you know, what i have begun to see is that while people on the ground are talking about these decisions, the leading candidates we have on the democratic side at least for governor and for u.s. senate

have really stayed away from what they believe are wedge issues. we're still a very conservative state. so any democrat, you know, who wins a nomination here and goes on to win the general election will have to come from a blue-dog tradition, meaning they're going to be a bit like maybe jason carter, who votes in favor of an open-carry law. and they're going to be a little bit more quiet on issues like birth control and contraception because it may not get them as much traction here in georgia as, say, it might get them in illinois or in california, you know, or in a northern state. here in the south, we're still carrying quite a bit in terms of, you know, these conservative values. so as a democrat, you've got to be very, very careful about that as our congressman sanford bishop proves every day. >> indeed. goldie, we'll have you back to talk about a lot of that. georgia's going to be fascinating this year. thanks so much. >> fascinating. >> all right. take care. and it is official. the republicans have selected cleveland to host the 2016 republican national convention.

cleveland beat out dallas and, as you know, sits in the critically important battleground state of ohio, which is home to major fights over voting rights. we'll be right back. (birds chirping softly in background.) (loud engine sounds!) what! how's it going? heard you need a ride to school. oh, that's pretty cool! big day at school? i know just the thing to help you get going. power up with new cheerios protein. looks like we're about to board. mm-hmm. i'm just comparing car insurance rates at progressive.com. is that where they show the other guys' rates, too? mm-hmm. cool. yeah.

hi. final boarding call for flight 294. [ bells ring on sign ] [ vehicle beeping ] who's ready for the garlic festival? this guy! bringing our competitors' rates to you -- now, that's progressive.

where you can explore super destinations and do everything under the sun. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. save up to 25% and earn bonus points when you book at wyndhamrewards.com.

coming up on reid between the line, the history of the other major migration of children to the u.s. but first, it's time for we the tweeple and the stories you can't stop buzzing about on social media. we start with a trip down memory lane. >> this fella over here with the yellow shirt, whatever his name is, he's with my opponent. he's following us around everywhere. >> so the virginia blogger and democratic operative who basically ended george allen's senate run with that piece of video of a racial slur that most people had never even heard of, which basically translates as monkey, got hired two weeks ago by the washington football team

whose general manager happens to be george allen's brother. true story. to try to sell the idea that their name is actually not a racial slur and, in fact, honors native americans. here's the thing. that blogger has what you might call an online paper trail, which includes his tweets from a casino back in 2010 in which he accuses a native american guy of putting a spell on him and brags that he just took chief for his last $300, then calls it a scalping. well, now ben has resigned via twitter, proving that karma does have a social media profile too. meanwhile, the cia celebrated its one-month anniversary on twitter by answering the top five questions it's received so far. best answer, no, we don't know where tupac is, #twitterversary. the rapper was killed in 196 in a drive-by shooting in vegas. his death remains unsolved. to this day, people believe in

conspiracy theories that he's still alive. not everyone is buying the denials, including ruth, who jokingly tweeted, i don't believe you. also, yes, they're hiring, and no, they don't know your password. finally, everyone loves potato salad. the proof is on kick starter. a guy named zach "danger" brown launched a kick starter to raise a whole $10 to make potato salad. instead, in just five days, he's raised more than $38,000. check out this video he posted two days ago. >> this is amazing. when i started this campaign, my secret goal was that we could make $60. and in three days, we've made 1,000% of that, $5,000. thank you so much. >> many of you are tweeting about zach using #potatomadness, including phil, who wrote, $38,000 for potato salad?

going to have to re-evaluate my career goals tonight. yeah, me too. zach still has more than three weeks left in his campaign. if you're wondering how this could happen, kick starter loosened its guidelines last month. if it's legal, you can raise money for it. you can kick start the conversation with fellow reiders on facebook, twitter, and msnbc.com. now this news. the defense rests in the oscar pistorius murder trial. here's more on where the cake stands now. [ kinda ] we are the saunders. and we're new to the pacific northwest. the rain, the mud -- babam! it's there. the outside comes in. it's kinda nasty so you start the towel-mop shuffle. where are you sun?! [ doorbell rings ] oh, wow, it's a swiffer wetjet.

this puts my towel mopping to shame. whoa! ewww. sunshine is overrated, now we can get messy. [ laughs ] 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.

♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. and now for a little something we might call the weed report. marijuana law is one of the few policy areas today where reform advocates are having actual real success. take, for instance, the two washingtons. while the rollout is a bit

bumpy, today washington state becomes the second state after colorado to legalize pot. while a coast away in the other washington, democrat cory booker and republican rand paul today introduced a bill to destigmatize those under 18 convicted of drug related offenses. the growing popularity of legalizing marijuana as well as reforming a criminal justice system that stigmatizes nonviolent drug offenders begs a question. how is all this happening a few decades after just say no? ron reagan jr. is an msnbc political analyst. his father, former president ronald reagan, signed a national crusade for a drug-free america in 1986. his mother created the just say no to drugs campaign. also with me, a senior staff writer for nbc news.

ron, i have to go to you first. when we think of just say no, we do think of your mother and father, president reagan and the former first lady. what do you think they would think of this new brave new world we're in now of first legalized medical marijuana and now two states actually legalizing it for recreational use? >> oh, i'm sure they'd be a little troubled by it, but they come from a generation you would expect that from. it's true they were just say no sorts of people, but of course they weren't just saying no to alcohol or tobacco or many pharmaceutical drugs, all of which contribute to more health problems than marijuana does. so maybe they would be more enlightened today. i'm not sure. >> well, tony, let's talk about the rollout in washington state. it hasn't been completely smooth. there's been product shortages. well, that's not really surprising. growers and sellers scramble to get ready. there have been pot prices that expected to reach $25 a gram or higher on the first day of sales, which is twice what people in the state in their unregulated medical marijuana

dispensaries were charging. do you think any of that slows the role of this anywhere else, or is this to be expected? >> i think it's to be expected. but it's also troubling. you know, unlike colorado, washington had a chance to set up its mark and do anything it wanted. now you have this battle between the medical marijuana world, which is already there in washington state, and the legal. medical marijuana is half the price. if people don't move to the legal, it's going to die. that's a real threat. and it's closer to the kind of battle between the two we'll see in other states. you know, almost 25 states have legalized medical. >> right. ron, this is one of the questions i've long had about the idea of legalizing recreational marijuana. is whether or not it tends to really raise the price, especially since in colorado you also have this phenomenon of designer weed, of people being able to sell much higher-end products than what was dealt on the street. do you think we'll end up in a situation where you have almost two weed marks, one for high-end rich people and another that

continues to be dealt on the street? >> i can't speak to colorado. i've never lived there, but you can get high-end and medium-quality and low-end marijuana right now from unlicensed dealers. you can go online and get it. if you know somebody, you can get it. there are many ways to get any variety of marijuana you want. but it's correct to say that washington's rollout has not been smooth and it has pitted the medical marijuana industry, if you will, against the new retail, recreational industry, and prices are going to be higher there. many people may just stay on the black market because it's jus as easy to get it there. nlts a >> and we're showing the 23 states right now that allow medical marijuana. let's talk about colorado's experience. there was this fear that there was going to be lots of vienlts crime, that it was going to lead to a lot of criminality. but violent crime is down. colorado is seeing crime go down. they haven't had any of the really frightening things that anti-legalization people expect. now you have other places

considering recreational legalization. oregon, washington, d.c. is this just sort of a movement that cannot be stopped at this point? because you don't really have the bad effects that people can point to, other than prices and some shortages. >> i think it can be stopped. i think it's too soon to say whether or not it's a completely smooth rollout. yes, it's safer than alcohol. over a five or ten-year period, when we really have a track record of how this is influencing a society or community, people might take a step back. i don't think they will, but they might. interesting point about the black market in relation to the legal market. we're actually at a point where we may need to roll out one more war on drugs just for a moment to push all those black market people into the mainstream now. it's like, please stop buying it in the park. we want this legal system to work. we voted for it. we set it up. now spend your money in it. >> ron, how can that be accomplished? in california, at least, there's a requirement to be licensed. you still have an issue of somebody with a criminal background probably not being

able to get cleared to sell legally. so it doesn't seem that it would be that simple, even in these progressive states like washington state to actually merge the legal and illegal markets. >> well, there are a variety of problems. first of all, people have had trouble getting financing to open stores here. the banking industry has not been overly enthusiastic about providing capital to people engaging in something that is still federally illegal. the liquor control board here in washington are the people who are charged with implementing the rollout of recreational marijuana. the liquor industry, i would say, is one of three i can think of right off the top of my head who would be hostile to legal marijuana. the others being the pharmaceutical industry and of course the prison industry. so there are multibillion-dollar industries that would really rather this didn't happen. and they'll be putting money into stopping it any way they can. >> yeah, that's interesting. and there's also the potential, tony, that maybe one of these industries, maybe the cigarette industry or others, may start to

coopt it and you could have that happening as well. talk a little bit about on the banking side. this is a big issue. if you have now a legal business in these two states where you can sell recreationally but you can't put your money in the bank because the federal banking industry is still nont on board how is that complicating this? >> it creating a crime problem. violent crime in colorado is down statewide, but if you talk to people who own shops and who own groves, they're extremely concerned about stick-ups and they are happening. so to the extent that will continue, you could have a ghastly event that changes the political calculus here and creates enough momentum for people who want to leverage it say this is a problem. >> and last word to you, ron. on that subject of potential co-opation, do you see the potential for that to happen, for legal industries that could theoretically be competitors deciding just to get into that mark and overwhelming the individual businesses. >> well, it's possible the tobacco industry, for instance, could get into this and start

producing, you know, marlboro weed cigarettes or something like that. then you'd have two different markets. i think you'd have the traditional marijuana market, people who would not go anywhere near a tobacco company's product. but other people, let's call them nascar stoners, who probably welcome this sort of winston brand of cigarette or something like that be marijuana in it. i'm imagining that might be the case. i don't know. but that's a possibility. >> yeah, the down and upside of the demock ratization of weed. thank you very much. >> thank you. new developments today in those prostitution allegations against new jersey senator bob menendez. the senator has asked the justice department to look into claims that the cuban government was behind the smear campaign. according to former u.s. official, the cia has obtained credible evidence linking cuban agents to reports that maine nen dez visited underaged prostituted in the dominican republic. he claims the rumors were timed

to derail him just as he assumed the chairmanship of the powerful senate foreign relations committee. and still ahead, the rising democratic star who's gaining traction by saying things other candidates wouldn't dare even mention. if you wear a denture, touch it with your tongue.

if your denture moves, it can irritate your gums. try fixodent plus gum care. it helps stop denture movement and prevents gum irritation. fixodent. and forget it. and prevents gum irritation. (vo) ours is a world of come on let's go! (vo) the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (dad) i feel bad for you. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the return trips. how you feeling buddy? i'm fine, dad. (vo) the day trips. (boy) i get it this time! (vo) the carpools. see...now this is why i wanted girls. (boy) i called it! (vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting... ...for a safe arrival. which is why we built our greatest subaru sedan ever,

with road-gripping symmetrical all-wheel drive, and available eyesight driver assist technology. to help the driver in you... ...care for the passenger in them. introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. rare is the person raised in impoverished circumstances who fell in with a gang and was sent to jail as a youth only to turn her life around. rarer still is the woman who does this while admitting without shame or embarrassment that not only did she have an abortion at a young age, but that it was the right choice for her and for so many other women like her. but that is lucy flores, a rising star in the democratic party, who hopes to become nevada's next lieutenant governor. in part by doing and saying things women in this society just aren't supposed to do or say if they want to succeed. >> at 16, i got an abortion.

and that was a very difficult thing for me to do. and i'll never forget being there and having that done. and i don't regret it. i don't regret it because i am here making a difference, at least in my mind, for many other young ladies. >> and joining me now is state assemblywoman lucy flores. first of all, thank you so much for being here. >> absolutely. >> when you made that admission, first of all, what prompted you to so publicly acknowledge something that really women don't talk about and what was the reaction? >> well, first of all, i didn't intend on doing it. i wasn't actually even supposed to testify that day. i had a break in my schedule, and i was asked if i was going to testify in support, so i did. and i just didn't plan on doing that. what i felt compelled to do is

because ifl felt that the bill s struggling and i didn't know if we were going to get it passed. it had already failed one legislative session before. i just thought it was incredibly important to finally get this done in nevada. we needed it. our kids needed it. i decided to disclose that because i felt like it was important for me to try to connect those dots to my legislative colleagues so that they understood that these are real lives that we're talking about, that they're not just words on a piece of paper that, the decisions that we make absolutely affect young people every single day and that i very much could have been helped if things had been different for me. so ultimately, that's all it was about. it was about me trying to give a real world example about what we do and how that actually affects people in our communities. >> what was the substance of the bill, and did it pass? >> so we were fighting for comprehensive sex ed changes in nevada. we have not updated our sex ed policies in nevada since the

'70s. we also happen to lead the country in teenage pregnancy rates and all of these unfortunate statistics for kids. yet, we have not done anything to change the way that we educate our young people. so for me, that was incredibly important. in disclosing that choice i had to make for myself, it was an example, a very real world example of how we can change lives, how we can improve the outcomes for our kids in this state if only we have the courage to do the right thing. so that's what we were trying to accomplish that day. >> you have an incredible story. you were born into a family that was extremely impoverished. 13 children, a mother who abandoned you in grade school. you fell into gang activity, actually were sentenced to youth prison, dropped out of high school, became a lawyer, and then a state legislator. all by the age of 31. that's a huge trajectory. talk about that path that led

you from where you were in terms of being involved in gang violence and really going down the wrong path, having an unexpected pregnancy. how did you go from there to law school? >> well, it seems like it happened overnight. i certainly tell the story fairly quickly. but it didn't. it was a process. and that really began with a single person, my parole officer, actually, who was the first person to invest some time and energy in me and really empower me in ways that others had not where i had just been treated like another number in a system, where people had just kind of pegged me as a failure, someone who was never going to accomplish anything. yet, i did have abilities and the intelligence to accomplish more. she really was the first person to help me really start on a different path. then it was just a series of people, mentors, people who encouraged me, who told me that i should consider going to school and all these other

things. so it was a process, but really, for me, it's just a demonstration of what happens when we invest in one another, when we invest in education and the programs that our communities need. most especially for our kids, you know, we have so many communities that are in need. yet, we are not addressing those needs in any kind of real substantive way in many cases. and so much potential that is there, potential that was in me that obviously i was able to realize because i had that kind of assistance is just going untapped. and i think that's a real tragedy for out country. >> absolutely. you're actually running on your story. you're actually not running away from my aspects of it. how were are you received with you talk to people on the campaign trail? how is that story playing out for you? >> it's actually going very well. ultimately at the end of the day, people identify with the fact that they might not know exactly what i went through as a

kid, but they understand that all of us, we experience challenge and struggle and that ultimately, at least here in the state of nevada and quite frankly in this country, we have not done enough to address those huge cracks that exist for so many in our communities. and so people really identify with that. they just want an even playing field. they want the same opportunities everybody else has no matter where you're growing up. and that's very much what i fight for every single day. it's to ensure if you are growing up in a low-income household with a single parent or whatever the case may be, that you have those resources available to you in order to be successful. people just identify with that. they identify with my story and they identify that, hey, also you make mistakes. you know, but for me a mistake is something to be learned from. and the only time that a mistake is a mistake is when you continue in that same trajectory or you don't learn from them.

so i think it's just really a story of redemption that people identify with and quite frankly that's america. that's the american dream that no matter what you can succeed. >> absolutely. well, best of luck to you. >> thank you. >> all right. coming up next, we reid between the lines on the children caught in the middle of a political tug of war. my daughter is studying to be a dentist, and she gave me advice. she said, "dad, go pro with crest pro-health." [ male announcer ] 4 out of 5 dentists confirmed these pro-health products helped maintain a professional clean. crest pro-health really brought my mouth to the next level. [ male announcer ] go pro with crest pro-health. [ cat meows ] ♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da, bum-da, bum-da ♪ ♪ bum-da, bum-da ♪ the animals went in two by two ♪ ♪ the sheep and the frog and the kangaroo ♪ ♪ and they all went marching, marching in two by two ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] the nissan pathfinder, with intuitive four-wheel drive. an adventure worth sharing. nissan. innovation that excites. take them on the way you always have. live healthy and take one a day men's 50+. a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares.

december 1960, the plan went into motion. a secret network of volunteers risked their lives to evacuate children and not just the children of the underground. >> they would get names from priests and nuns and friends of children whose parents wanted them to leave the country. >> i remember my parents asking,

how do do you feel about going, you know, to the united states for a little while? >> that was a clip from a 2010 cnbc documentary "escape from hah van that." it tells the story of operation peter pan. a secret air lift that starting in december 960 and ending with the cuban missile crisis in october 1962 brought more than 14,000 unaccompanied children from cuba to the united states. the story begins with the cuban revolution and the initial elation on new year's day 1959 when fidel castro's rebels overthrew the dictator. it quickly went south. with the elections castro promised, never happening, and then there were the arrests and executions. >> enemies of the state were sent to the wall where lives would end. >> i saw them on television, yes. yeah, i saw people's heads being blown off. all sorts of people started

being rounded up, given summary trials and executed. >> cuban parents began to fear they would lose their children. >> their fears only deepened when the state seized private property, closed churches, and exiled the clergy. school children became castro's new recruits. >> or that their children would lose them. an alarmed president eisenhower ordered the cia to overthrow the castro government. the cia distributed print and radio propaganda telling cuban parents that castro had signed a law allowing the revolutionary government to take their children and even send them to russia. in a panic, many cuban middle-class parents decided to get their children out and the operation was born. the kids were put on commercial flights a few at a time and received by the catholic welfare bureau in miami without visas. in all, more than 14,000

children came to the u.s. it was before this year the largest exodus of unaccompanied minors in the western hemisphere. many of the kids thought they were only going for a few weeks. about half were taken in by relatives. others were placed in temporary shelter or relocated to more than 30 states. none were ever sent back. parents don't send thinker children away frivolously. they do it out of desperation. the parents sending their kids from central america, like the parents of pedro pan, are desperate. as americans, as human beings, we should be offering them compassion, not ugliness and not vowing to send them back to the hell they escaped from. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. be sure to visit us online. and it is now that time. my favorite time. "the cycle" is up next. what you got going? >> hey, joy. we actually have a theme show today. we're looking at the future of america. we're also going to be talking

about immigration, where we're going to go from here with this devastating crisis on the border right now. we're also looking at the future of labor organizing in the country, future of entrepreneurship, future of cars as well. so a lot of different things going on today. >> all right. that sounds good. hopefully you'll get some tesla in there. that's really, really important. all right, guys. thanks so much. "cycle" is up next. ♪ f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... ...incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. "f". the performance marque from lexus. intercourse that's painfulit... due to menopausal changes. the problem isn't likely to go away... ...on its own.

so it's time we do something about it. and there's help. premarin vaginal cream. a prescription that does what no over-the-counter product was designed to do. it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and make intercourse more comfortable. premarin vaginal cream treats vaginal changes due to menopause and moderate-to-severe painful intercourse caused by these changes. don't use premarin vaginal cream if you've had unusual bleeding, breast or uterine cancer, blood clots, liver problems, stroke or heart attack, are allergic to any of its ingredients or think you're pregnant. side effects may include headache, pelvic pain, breast pain, vaginal bleeding and vaginitis. estrogen may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots or dementia, so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream.

and go to premarinvaginalcream.com this is worth talking about. yeah?om. we got allstate, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing... called allstate quickfoto claim. it's an app.

you understand that? just take photos of the damage with your phone and upload them to allstate. really? so you get a quicker estimate, quicker payment, quicker back to normal. i just did it. but maybe you can find an app that will help you expln this to your father. introducing quickfoto claim. justnother way allstate is changing car insurance for good. cycling right now a new round of recalls from detroit. this time from ford. six models are involved, including the popular ford edge. more than 100,000 vehicles in total are affected. l.a. clippers owner don sterling is due in court this afternoon as he fights the sale of the team. the judge has threatened him with a bench warrant after he failed to appear at the start of the trial on monday. and cleveland rocks, at least republicans definitely so. that's the city they have picked to hold their convention in 2016.

and we are glad you picked "the cycle" today. we begin this afternoon with crisis management at the white hou house. for yet another week, the news cycle seems to have gotten away from the president. the events seem to be controlling the white house and not the other way around. first we had ukraine. then the va scandal. iraq, of course, continuing its downward spiral. when it comes to dealing with these crises, the president is essentially damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. so far that appears to be how the crisis at the border is playing out for him as well. today the white house sent congress a $3.7 billion request. that's to help process the tens of thousands of children that have been captured at the border just this year. and that's nearly twice the expected