right now today with the mid-atlantic and northeast at greatest risk. meanwhile, disgraced former new orleans mayor is headed to federal prison. he was sentenced today to ten years for corruption from the term in office during those years following hurricane katrina. and house speaker john boehner, he may want to sue the president, but he doesn't want to impeach him. boehner responded just this morning to that call from sarah palin. she also added washington is broken. thanks. we just wonder why. if the vision of a 7-year-old child in a three-by-eight cubicle knocking on a glass door pleading for your help doesn't hit you, i don't know that anything else can. but, you know, it's one thing to talk about it, read about t and write about it. but it's another thing to see for yourself. >> how can you have a

humanitarian crisis as the white house has called this and not want to go see it for yourself? maybe you'll actually learn something. >> there's one thing president obama has said about what's happening that is absolutely correct. this is a humanitarian disaster. but it is a disaster of the president's own making. >> they can't stay. they cannot stay. if they believe they're victims of persecution, go to our consulate. go to our embassy. this is selective morality being practiced here. >> the way to stem the tide is to have parents and relatives in these countries seeing these children come back to these countries. >> tough words on the hill as president obama boards air force one this hour flying from denver to texas. the center of that escalating refugee crisis. the white house planned this trip before the fight over the border became the top issue in washington. in dallas tonight, the president will meet with texas governor rick perry and religious leaders, republicans, and even some democrats have called on the president to make an

in-person visit to the border on this trip, arguing if he has found time for fundraising, he can make time to see the crisis up close. but the white house has rejected those calls for such a visit as a complete political side show that has very little to do with policy or their emergency bill pending before congress. now, as for the children in limbo, government officials say most are still likely to be sent home. federal law routs those kind of decisions on deportations and asylum through the courts. today the doj said it will redirect resources to handle the influx, while the white house emphasizes the fastest way to stem the crisis is to pass that emergency bill. what does it do? it adds immigration judges, beeves up customs enforcement, and tries to stop immigration at its source. nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing is in dallas awaiting the president's arrival. chris, what can we expect? >> reporter: hey, ari. i think when the president steps off air force one here at lovefield a little more than two hours from now, he's stepping

into a political quagmire. they know that. there has been this explosion of a fight. should he or shouldn't he go to the border? and the real problem for them is the escalation by some democrats who are saying tomorrow when you're in austin, you're going to be 242 miles away, why don't you go there and see it up close? the white house is saying, this isn't about optics, it's about action. it's about results. and so they are looking at that $3.7 billion request that you just mentioned that would do a lot of things, including helping the children who have come over the border and are being held in detention centers, but also stepping up border security by more than $1 billion. this is really what's at stake here. already just in the hours after the president made his proposal, you started to hear pushback from the republicans, who are saying everything from, look, and this is john boehner. we need to worry about border security first. to speak who are saying, look,

you could buy a bunch of first-class tickets and send everybody back home. so this has become a huge political fight, and i think most people would say, where is the focus on what's really at stake here? how are we going to deal with this crisis? and what's become clear is that the president's request is already setting up for a huge fight and that this whole question of will he go to the border or won't he and the white house continues to insist he absolutely will not is overshadowing what really is a search for answers that we don't have right now, ari. >> chris jansing reporting from dallas, thank you. now we turn to an editor at "salon" and former aide to barack obama, hillary clinton, and new york attorney general eric schneiderman. we played some sound there. a lot of what this bill does is i.c.e. enforcement, immigrations

enforcement, basically dealing with the border problem. let's take a listen to speaker boehner. >> if we don't secure the border, nothing is going to change. and if you look at the president's request, it's all more about continuing to deal with the problem. we've got to do something about sealing the border and ending this problem so that we can begin to move on to the bigger question of immigration reform. >> part of what the speaker says there isn't accurate in the sense that this package, as we've been reporting, does include crackdowns, deportation services, and more judges to help deal with these kids and many cases, yes, send them back but do it through the process required by law. what's happening here in the house where you don't have republicans meaningfully engaging with the proposal on the table? >> i hope i can say this at 3:00 p.m., but this is disingenuous nonsense. >> you can do whatever you want. >> that's how strongly i feel. it's ridiculous. the plan hoobama just laid out,

more than half of it goes to border security and tightening that, or working with these central american countries to keep their kids out. that's more than half of this. this claim he doesn't want to deal with it is ridiculous. they won't give him an answer on this plan. last year a bipartisan group of senators had a very, very strong comprehensive immigration plan that got through the senate, that was very tough on border enforcement. the corker amendment called for more fences, more surveillance cameras, really serious stuff. a lot of people on the left didn't even like it that much, but it was a compromise that got through the senate. the republican house won't even take it up for a vote. this is very disingenuous on their part. they have no interest in doing anything on this. as long as the president says he's for something, they won't be for it. this idea they want to see a better plan first is ridiculous. it's belied by the facts. >> there's been a lot of politics, as chris jansing was alluding to, about going to the border. going all the way to texas but

not physically being on the border. he says, it's not about being there, it's about getting something done. being on the border does not necessarily change the situation or change the outcome, but isn't it a missed opportunity, especially with so much misinformation out there about the situation, for him to highlight what's going on, to highlight the stories of these children, and to humanize the crisis. >> yeah, i tend to agree with you. again, i'm going to use that nasty turn. a lot of disingenuous nonsense from the republicans because, look, they don't care. they have no solution on the table. they have no alternative plan. they don't want anything to be up for a vote. so to hit obama with this -- >> it's their strategy with everything. >> are they going to the border? that would be a good idea. that being said, i do think it is a missed opportunity for the president in the sense that he's going to be really limited on what he can do legislatively. obviously, the republicans don't want to work with him on this. if he tries to do things through executive fiat, they're going to raise holy terror on that too.

what he can do is you have the ability to draw attention to problems. if he goes there and shows up and talks to those children -- and you showed video before of the congressman from texas saying, i went there and i looked at these kids and they're sitting in these three-by-eight cubicles pounding on a glass door saying, please, help me. i think for the president to show attention to that, because if he went, the cameras would follow. >> there's to reason not to. >> i think there's many reasons not to. the cameras are there constantly showing what's going on there. that would be political theater that could be very disruptive to what's actually going on there. and the real issue is not whether or not the president will go to the border for a photo op. the real is that republicans are standing in the way of meaningful immigration reform and have been for decades now. it's an interesting issue, actually, for the gop because they are the party of business, giving business whatever they want. we have the farming, the restaurant, and the farming communities are saying, we want this done. hotel business community, we want this done. but they've been also successful for decades using the culture

wars, especially demonizing imgrants. those two things don't really mesh in one party. >> that's right. right now the chamber of commerce is absolutely if favor of comprehensive immigration reform. lots of business groups want this. michael bloomberg, ultimate businessman politician. >> there are a number of republicans out there, religious leaders, business leaders -- >> absolutely, exactly. but the problem is, you have republican lawmakers, especially in the house of representatives, who are more worried about losing a primary than the general election. and who comes out to vote in the primary from the right? it's the same people who kicked eric cantor out of office and mike lee in utah. they're more worried about those people than the other side. >> you even have rubio, gang of eight, and he switches sides. >> pew research did a study showing there was a deep divide in the republican party between essentially the tea party types and the business types. they could not be more different on how they view immigration.

but congressman gomert has some deep thoughts on this crisis. let's take a listen. >> in the end, they have said they want to turn texas blue, turn america blue. and if you bring in hundreds of thousands or millions of people and give them the ability to vote and tell them, if you want to keep getting the benefits, you have to go vote. president obama's lawyer's not going to allow them to ask for an i.d. that drives people to vote. it will ensure that republicans don't ever get elected again. >> nice little conspiracy theory there. rick perry has also sort of alluded to the same conspiracy theory that we are intentionally bringing over undocumented immigrants to vote, but i think there is a sense in the republican party that one reason not to do comprehensive immigration reform is that then if you have a bunch of new

citizens, they are likely to vote democratic and that's going to be a bad thing for the republican party. >> clearly this is how they think. he brought that whole idea up. no one on the left was saying this. he came up with this idea it's all about voting so you get a lens into how he's seeing the issue. right after 2012 when mitt romney lost, the republican party knew they had a problem. they lost the hispanic vote by 40 points. we all know there's this autopsy report that said, what did we do wrong? one of the things they came up with was we have to do better with hispanic voters by bringing up comprehensive immigration reform. they're worried more about the far right. so it's an attempt to disenfranchise groups that aren't for them. we see it with voter i.d. laws. we see it here trying to deprive citizenship. >> even when it was george bush and karl rove, they understood the value of working with his panic voters. >> and the president there in a

state where george w. bush did to a lot more for hispanics than this version of the republican party. up next, road rage. that as "the cycle" rolls on for wednesday, july 9th. vo: this is the summer. the summer of this. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less. expedia. find yours. 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. enjoy the relief. but parallel parking isn't one you do a lof them.ings great.

you're either too far from the curb. or too close to other cars... it's just a matter of time until you rip some guy's bumper off. so, here are your choices: take the bus. or get liberty mutual insurance. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. call liberty mutual insurance. [ 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.

an adventure worth sharing. ithe part of us that a littwants to play,on. wants to be mischievous, wants to run free, all you have to do is let it out. find your inner minion only at the despicable me minion mayhem ride at universal studios hollywood.

and now to what would have been front-page politics had the border crisis not exploded in recent weeks. the economy. >> rather than engage in political stunts than waste time and taxpayer money, join me. let's do some things together. let's build some roads. let's give america a raise.

let's help families with childcare costs. there are all kinds of things we can do. don't be mad at me for doing something. how about teaming up with me? let's all do something. let's all get america working. >> that was the president in denver this afternoon trying to shift the conversation. he's not the only one. congress has just 15 working days left before the august recess. and 15 more days to fund a critical program that affects everything from the job market to the roads we drive on. the highway trust fund runs out of money on august 1st unless congress renews it. if that doesn't happen, the white house estimates 700,000 construction jobs could be lost over time. it's essentially wiping out the last four months of job gains. but there's still hope. a house committee released its bipartisan plan on tuesday to keep the fund going through next year. today "the new york times" is reporting that the senate may be close to a deal as well. congressman peter welch is a democrat from vermont and has been on the front lines of the

fight to get this thing renewed. congressman, welcome. >> thank you. >> so passing the highway trust fund, it's something we've always done. it's like a gift that gets an automatic pass. yet, this congress, we might not even get that done. that's how bad things currently are. what do you expect will happen here, and what will it mean if it's not passed? >> well, first of all, you're right. failure to pass the highway trust fund and have a sustainable funding source is exhibit a of congressional dysfunction. you know, one of out four bridges throughout the country is in need of desperate repair. we all have potholes. it's not like texas has them and vermont doesn't. we're all in this together. but this is enormously consequential to our local transportation agency. 55% of the money for these federal state projects come from the state. but 45% comes from the federal government. we're on the verge of having the highway trust fund go bust, and then we're stiffing our transportation agencies.

>> and congressman, you mentioned having a sustainable funding source. that is one of the core issues here, the gas tax is supposed to fund the highway trust fund. hasn't been lifted since 1993. meanwhile, we've shifted to more fuel-efficient vehicles. so we're just not taking in as much money from gasoline, which is a good thing, but we have to figure out some other way to finance our roads and bridges. what do you see as a sustainable solution there? >> well, first of all, i do think we have to adhere to the user fee approach. the gas tax is an indication that, hey, the folks who use the roads, who use the bridges are the ones who have to help pay for them. second, it's something that acknowledges that there are generations of people who benefit from a well-designed road and a safe bridge. so we have to spread that cost out over generations. the only really serious proposal around here is the corker-murphy

proposal in the senate that acknowledges that, hey, the gas tax is a revenue source. in the house, what we're seeing is both sides are coming up with a grab bag of excuses. revenue sources that have no chance of getting passed and are not sustainable. in fact, the burden is on mr. boehner. his responsibility as the speaker where they control the floor is to put a bill on the floor that would have a sustainable revenue source. i've indicated to the speaker and my republican colleagues, you put something up there on a revenue source and i'll support it. we have to get 218 votes. give the funds to the highway trust fund that are essential to the repair our roads and repair our bridges. >> yeah, i mean, congressman, you're speaking a little to the politics of it, how to get this done. used to be on the hill that bad things would lead to action, you know. enron led to campaign finance reform. 9/11 led to a patriot act law, whether you thought it was good or bad.

here we're talking about this economic problem. we're talking about getting this kind of infrastructure up and running, which is a real issue and danger across the country. we're talking about whether the supplemental emergency bill on immigration we were talking about previously in the hour will even get a vote. why is it, do you think, we don't see congress pick up action anymore on these thing, and what can change that? >> well, it's the real division, i think, at this point in the republican party. there's a lot of folks there that actually have this sort of faith-based view that the potholes will fix themselves or the states can step up and take over full responsibility. i mean, that defies what has been traditionally a partnership between the state and federal government, particularly on transportation projects, whether it was the transcontinental railroad, the inland canals that were so essential to our early economy, or the interstate highway system that was championed by president eisenhower. the other thing is that there's a lot of political irresponsibility here where when it comes to funding and we actually have to put a revenue source on the floor, there's an

immense fear that there will be a political price paid for that. in fact, i think if mr. boehner put a revenue source, a sustainable revenue source on the floor between republicans and democrats who understand that our states, our districts need this money to maintain jobs and to maintain safe highways and bridges, we'd pass it. but if he doesn't put anything on the floor, whether it's this or immigration reform, then we continue our just say no approach to policy solutions. and this is really threatening and not sustainable for the country. >> congressman, most policy debates don't end up with people visibly suffering. of course we knee now that our years of inaction on immigration have led to the current cry circumstances humanitarian crisis we have now. 90,000 kids will come into this country this year. they will go to -- through a broken system. they will be stuck in horrible detention centers. yet, still congress is doing nothing. what does it say, sir, about your colleagues, that even this visibly human suffering of

children cannot move them to action. >> well, it's an indication of our inability to just talk together about the problem. there's a fear of taking that first step, that there will be some political repurr cushions. of course, the eric cantor loss intensified that. if we do things together, like when we avoided the shutdown that had significant democrats and a reasonable contribution from republicans, and there isn't a price paid for it. if you get some bipartisan action, voters get the sense we probably got it more right than wrong. but we're just in isolated camps. it's talking points competing against each other. and that example you just gave is another indicator of that issue. >> yeah, compromise should not be such a poisonous word. congressman peter welch, thank you so much. up next, the worst flare-up of violence in the gaza strip in years. we'll get a live report from our friend ayman mohyeldin, who's on the ground there. that's next. if i can impart one lesson to a

new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

night has fallen on the gaza strip at the end of a second day of israeli air strikes. this is the third such escalation in five years. they've claimed to have hit more than 500 sites. the strikes come in response to repeated rocket attacks on key cities deep inside israel. israel ice israel's ambassador to the u.s. spoke about this on msnbc this afternoon, claiming they have the ability to strike anywhere now. >> we have to defend our population. what do you think the united states, the american people would want their government to do if three-quarters of the population of this country, well over 200 million people, would come under the threat of rocket fire? what do you think they would demand from their government and military to do? >> now, this latest escalation is, of course, a response to those kidnappings and murders of three israeli teens, including an american, followed by the alleged revenge killing of a young palestinian. we are now seeing some of the worst violence in the region since 2012.

nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin is in the middle of the conflict in tel aviv with what's happening there tonight. >> reporter: ari, certainly a tense situation in tel aviv for some time, but make no mistake about it, the city is still very much on edge. hospitals have been put on high alert. bomb shelters have been open here. there is the concern, as you mentioned, that hamas' rockets, now two days into this and after israel claimed to have hit 500 targets or so inside gaza, that hamas' rockets are still reaching jerusalem. they're still reaching tel aviv, and they're still even going beyond this city. and that has officials here speculating this could be the time for a ground invasion. today the israeli president was quoted as saying that a ground invasion may be in the works, so to speak. 40,000 or so israeli soldiers have been called up, put into the military system. there is the growing possibility that a ground invasion could be

used to try to suppress the rocket fire. in gaza, a very different situation there. the medical infrastructure of gaza decimated after years of a siege. officials there say they are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. at least 350 injured and more than 50 have been killed, including women and children. the policy or the strategy at least it seems that among the targets that israel is going after, the homes of suspected militants, those belonging to senior members of the military wings of hamas and islamic jihad. some of those families are actually in their homes at the time of the targets. that's why we're seeing a spike in some of these civilian casualties. so it is a dire situation for the people in gaza. tremendous amount of concern for the people of israel. neither side seems to be backing down at this point. >> ayman mohyeldin in tel aviv, thank you. now we turn to fallout from the facebook experiment where they manipulated people's emotions and studied how everyone

reacted. organizers want users to change their profile picture to the one you can see here and share the website's link on their page and then sign off completely, no facebook for 99 days. as abby huntsman likes to say, quoting jay-z -- >> i've got 99 problems, but facebook ain't one. >> there it is. >> look at that. i didn't know you were going to drop rhymes. >> wow. >> we could spin on this, as we tend to do. is this even going to work? >> i think it's a move in the right direction. no, it's not going to work. but it's going to send a message to them. what i actually think, as we see increasing resentment against facebook, which this is not the first time facebook has annoyed/angered their user base, if that really built to something, i think you could see another company come in and say, well, maybe there is an opportunity here for a viable alternative. one thing i'd be interested in is if there's a model where people do actually pay a small fee but then all their data is

not being sold to advertisers and they're not being used for studies and research to be sold as well. >> i would be curious as to how that would go. it's interesting. >> i think there's enough resentment there. >> i think this is the strongest message that people could send to facebook, that they are not happy with them manipulating them and their facebook. question, though, will it actually work? can people get off facebook for 99 days? everyone's different . i don't really use facebook anymore. but i use instagram and twitter and my phone for a number of reasons. >> you're big on twitter. >> i don't think i would be able to do that. for folks that rely on facebook for entertainment purposes every single day, i think they would have a very hard time being off for 99 days. >> you don't think they would get off it? >> no, and it speaks to a bigger problem we have in society to being addicted to certain things. >> it's not so much the addiction, but people use it to keep in touch with their family, share pictures with their kids

on a basic level. >> that part of it makes it really hard for folks to want to disengage. it's not the sort of typical addiction, which is real and scientific -- >> just checking it all day long for nonsense. i understand keeping up with family and friends, but there are other reasons. >> no, it can't work, because the number of folks who would actually be interested in doing this is so tiny that facebook wouldn't even notice. they have hundreds of millions of users. in some estimates, a billion active users. even if you could get 10,000 people, which you know in your activism, that's a ton of people to make this sort of pledge, facebook wouldn't even notice that. >> you're wrong about that. these companies don't respond in the right proportionality to the number of people who are actually participating. we saw this with the rush limbaugh boycott. advertisers get really freaked out when there's a controversy. so they respond, even though it might only be 10,000 people f they're vocal, they respond in a way that's out of whack with the numbers. >> i agree with toure on this.

i think facebook knows they have the leverage. they assume people aren't actually going to succeed in doing this. so who knows? >> i think krystal makes a good point. it's a question i often ask toure. what is cool? can you see that? >> you do ask me that all the time. >> i feel like we're in primary class. >> here's the thing krystal is getting at. it's not cool to totally abuse and lie to your user base. i'm not saying a deliberate boycott here is going to change the company overnight. you're absolutely right. but in the long-term, what happened to friendster? what happened to myspace? they had features in the site that people didn't like. >> there was a better option. >> but partly they became less cool. i think the biggest thing about facebook is it's really uncool to continue to degrade your users, treat them like idiots, deceive them. and it is true people need it for messages. people use facebook like texts but that's the bigger question here. >> this is a way to interact with your consumers, but the

privacy concerns are so much more important. i would like to have seen people try to boycott or attack facebook based on that and not on this. >> well, we can see that next. >> meanwhile, i did want to mention, abby huntsman still using bing instead of google. >> it's courageous. >> i actually used it last night. >> that's a larger conversation. >> i think it's time to go. >> if you say so, abby. up next, we have a look at a state where the ballots are creating a sticky situation in the governor's race. a body at rest tends to stay at rest...

while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. and it's not a narcotic you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine,

or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.

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. peter tosh said legalize it, don't criticize it. from coast to coast, america is listening. monday, new york governor andrew cuomo signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana, making new york the 23rd state to do so. and yesterday the da in brooklyn said people caught with small amounts of ganja will not be

prosecuted if they have a clean record. meanwhile, on the left coast in the great state of washington, the sticky icky went on sale for entertainment purposes for the first time this year. and back on the right coast, weed has become part of the contentious florida governor's race, all of which is apparently enough to make some yokle in denver wonder if obama is thinking about getting the gang back together. that's not happening. what is happening is friend of the show and politics writer for the washington examiner betsy woodruff getting down in the weeds of mary jane. there's an interesting interview in "the national journal" with a legal weed dealer, or undocumented weed dealer, who's saying they still have the advantage over the government in that they have better prices, established relationships, more privacy, and some of them, i hear, deliver. how's the government going to

compete with the incumbent business community here? >> that's definitely a tricky question. i mean, another advantage that illegal or undocumented or unorthodox marijuana salespersons have is that they can export. last summer i went to colorado and spoke with one of these undocumented salespersons, and he told me that even though the legal stores could potentially cut into his business, the fact that he could sell across state lines can be very helpful, especially given that the farther away you are from his state with legal weed, the more you can sell your product for. for instance, if you're a colorado dealer and you're shipping it to wyoming or nebraska, you're going to get a decent markup. if you're shipping, say, to arkansas or mississippi, you're going to see an even bigger profit more gin. >> yeah, betsy, you write a lot about florida politics. on the ballot this fall is the florida right to medical marijuana initiative. it's something that governor scott -- rick scott, rather, has openly opposed as well as big money donors. i don't think we know yet how

republican-turned-democrat charlie crist feels about it. how do you see this playing out? if this is an issue young people can rally behind enough to actually get out and vote for, do you see this having a real impact on the governor's race? >> interestingly, first crist actually did say he would vote for amendment two, but he hasn't made it a huge campaign issue, which is an interesting choice because according to a recent poll for a local tv station, the poll showed first governor scott up over crist by just one point. but second, it showed governor scott only winning in the age bracket of folks 65 or older. an interesting data point to keep in mind with this is according to a quinnipiac poll from this spring, of floridian voters 65 and up, 84% favor medical marijuana. i had to look twice when i saw that number. that seemed mind boggling. >> maybe charlie crist should open up more about it if he wants to win this race. >> yeah, and it's interesting. big-money donors have gotten

really involved in this. very vocal, virulent criticism for dnc chair debbie wasserma wasserman-schultz, because she had serious questions about amendment two. he also voted against an amendment in congress that would protect state medical marijuana laws from federal intervention. john morgan said she was an irritant on the democratic national scene just because of her stance on this. >> as you know, a lot of times partisans on both sides will put ballot initiatives on the ballot that they think will drive up turnout among their base. do you think marijuana legalization could drive up turnout for the democratic base? >> yeah, absolutely. and not as much as if they were legalizing recreational marijuana, just because that's such a bigger move than legalizing medical marijuana, but i think for sure. it's definitely a winning issue for democrats. it remains to be seen how much it'll play a role in this race, especially because it's just medical. and, you know, oddly enough, we've gotten to the point where

states legalizing medical marijuana is no longer shocking or amazing. in fact, i think we're practically at the point where states that don't have some sort of legalization or decriminalization of medical marijuana, they're close to being in the minority. florida is interesting because it would be the first southern state to have this kind of law. it sort of broadens the map geographically. we'll see if that's helpful. >> i don't think in the political context medical marijuana is about medicine as much as it is about marijuana, which is not to discount the fact it is very useful for certain people with certain conditions. but the bigger piece here i think for young people and liberals is changing the pot laws is a lifestyle issue that people say, yeah, of course i don't want to go to jail and my friends shouldn't go to jail just for trying out some pot. and it's also a justice issue because we know and we've reported on this repeatedly on "the cycle" that when you see the rates of usage compared to incarceration, you're much more likely to go to jail for being black and smoking pot than doing it any other way.

smoking pot is something you can choose. your skin color isn't. so speak to us about that dynamic and how this state-level pressure could ultimately bubble up to congress and get some change in the federal laws, which are some of the most draconian on that issue and on racial disparity. >> yeah, the racial disparity issue is absolutely undeniable. the fact that our marijuana laws are the way they are absolutely highlights that many policing practices can, if not in intent, then definitely by function be racial. as far as how that affects the interaction of state policy and federal policy, i think we're definitely moving in the direction of federal laws that are more friendly to medical marijuana. and to legalize recreational marijuana. we've seen changes in the banking system. we've seen more and more members of congress speak up about the need for policy changes. you know, it's no longer this enormous political liability the way it was in the '90s where if you were soft on drugs, you were out of a job. >> right. betsy woodruff, thank you very

much. up next, a reminder why immigration makes for a better america. and looking ahead to tomorrow, we're going to talk to director matt reeves about his new summer blockbuster "dawn of the planet of the apes." it is fantastic. [ mrs. hutchison ] friday night has always been all fun and games here at the hutchison household. but one dark stormy evening... there were two things i could tell: she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her what our other cats love, purina cat chow complete. it's the best because it has something for all of our cats!

and after a couple of weeks she was healthy, happy, and definitely part of the family. we're so lucky that lucy picked us. [ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. always there for you. [ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business.

the ambulance racing by you. the ambulance chaser... chasing the ambulance. a rollerblader with headphones who's oblivious to everything. the cab driver who's checking out the rollerblader.

it's 360 degrees of chaos out there. but with driver-assist technology, including a blind spot system and a rear-view camera, the ford fusion will help tell you when it's coming. ♪ the ford fusion will help tell you when it's coming. eachwon't have a claim.wners that's why allstate claim free rewards gives you money back for every year you don't have one. and why if you're part of the other 5%, allstate offers claim rateguard. so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. no matter what comes your way, your home protects you. ...protect it back allstate home insurance from an allstate agent. we've talked a lot on this show about the american dream and whether it is, in fact, still attainable. while we might sometimes feel like all of us getting that white picket fence is out of

reach, people do continue to come to this country believing that it is the land of opportunity. our next guest family lived just such a journey from the poughkeepsie-born son to ivy league educated teacher, speech writer, and domestic policy writer for president clinton. his new book "a chinaman's chance" explores what it means to be a chinese in the global context today. i understand that title refers to something your father used to say. >> it is. you know, my dad, when he emigrated to the united states in the late '50s, was a real vacuum cleaner for picking up american slang. this was a phrase, a chinaman's chance, that even then was going out of fashion, but it really came out of the 1850s when chinese immigrants were given the most thankless tasks. you know, mining our mountains, laying railroad. so this phrase, a chinaman's chance, which was a bit of a slur, basically meant slim to no chance. >> meant you had next to no chance at all.

eric, talk to us about right now we're obviously in a difficult time in the relationship between the u.s. and china. do you find there's a tension between feeling fully american and you obviously were born in this country, so you are fully american, and also honoring and keeping in touch with your chinese cultural heritage? >> well, i think, you know, this is a timeless second-generation american story. every son or daughter of immigrants in the history of this country is kind of tugged back and forth between the desire to claim this country and at the same time not lose completely what it was in terms of heritage and culture and identity that your parents' culture, the immigrants actually bestowed to you. what makes the chinese-american moment so unique is we are in the age of china versus america. when people look at people like me, with my face and my last anytime and my voice, you know, the sense that immigrants are

often presumed foreign until proven otherwise and not presumed american gets really heightened with chinese-americans in a moment where so many of our countrymen here in the united states are anxious about, are we still going to be number one? and is china about to eat our lunch? and so forth. >> i want to talk to you about that because there's been a lot of talk about this shift to asia and how china is the most important relationship of the 21st century, that we've got to focus on china more. yet, i talk about this all the time, that there has not been that focus with this administration. president obama has been there one time to beijing in the six years in the presidency. when all you have to do -- and you know this -- is spend a couple days over there just showing that you care, showing that you respect their culture. but i feel like that message of we've got to prioritize this is not really resonating. there was an article yesterday in "the washington post" that caught my attention. it was titled "china's raise and asian tensions spend u.s.

relations into downward spiral." in the piece it says, u.s.-china relations are worse than they have been since the normalization of relations and east asia today is less stable than at any time since the cold bill clinton, what is your take on current administration's handling of our relationship to china? >> i think they have as a matter of intentions and rhetoric wanted to make the so-called pivot to asia and china in particular but often as happens in foreign policy, darned events get in the way. the events that have unfolded and continue to unfold whether in russia, ukraine or middle east, keep on sucking back the attention and band width of our foreign policy leaders. this is a danger to us. we in the united states have to start thinking about how we reverse that downward spiral and turn it into at least not neutral and upward spiral. we are deeply co-dependent and i

think the great advance that america has in this moment, i don't care how strong china gets and how big their gdp gets, america retains at least a potential competitive advantage that i boil down this way, america makes chinese americans. china does no make american chinese. they are not interested and don't no how to do it. it's not in their separating system to take immigrants from other plays. eej chinese immigrants from other places and fuse them into a new notion of chineseness, that's our point, to as you all have been discussing, even this last hour, how do we redefine american? i think if we remember this is our competitive advantage, we'll be fine. >> your book is very personal. i want to get into some of the memoir aspect because we've come a long way around race in this country but it's been a hard time. i'm sure there's been difficult bumps in the road for you as a chinese-american, you can talk about more racist things ha happened to you growing up in america? >> one of the things that's

really important to recognize, even before we get to me and my family, the arc of the chinese-american experience in this country. it's very easy for people who paid alittle attention to assume chinese americans and asian-americans are super happy, super successful model minority overachieving or fiercely competitive because they are all tiger kids of tiger parents they are going eat everybody's lunch. the real chinese-american community is this barbel community. you have people with the blessing to have parents who came to the country already with education and social capital and wherewithal, and the best that can be said of me, i didn't blow it. but at the same time, on the other hand, which is neglected in our american story, are hundreds and thousands of chinese-americans in poverty, on the margins and edges of our national story and we've got to tell a bigger story about who we are here. >> the full range of the

experience. thank you so much. >> up next, you know how the government has been trying to calm us down about the whole nsa spying thing, promising they aren't watching most of us ordinary folks, just foreigners, area is covering new leaks that may have you thinking twice about that. (son) oh no...

can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it!

(dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn't there and the next second... boom! you've had your first accident. now you have to make your first claim. so you talk to your insurance company and... boom! you're blindsided for a second time. they won't give you enough money to replace your brand new car. don't those people know you're already shaken up? liberty mutual's new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car plus depreciation. call and for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch to liberty mutual insurance and you could save up to $423 dollars. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at

see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. i've done everything in my life to be patriotic and i served in the navy, served in the government. the fact i was surveilled in spite of doing all of that, it goes to show you the hysteria that everybody feels and every muslim is basically somehow harboring these feelings and

that's not the case. >> the nsa is in trouble again today. the intelligence agency is supposed to conduct surveillance on foreign threats, not americans as it often reminds everyone. does the nsa collect any type of data at all ofrn millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> it does not? >> not wittingly. there are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect but not witnessingly. >> that was james clapper deny egg the nsa collects data. it wasn't true earn later leaks proved his answer was false which he did later admit. that is the credibility context for the ns a's new trouble right now. today intercept reports that the nsa not only been surveilling americans but specifically political figures including a former gop candidate, even had a security clearance and director of a muslim-american civil

rights group. this e-mail monitoring was during the bush era. nsa defenders say it doesn't discriminate base on religion. that may be true in this case, we don't know. we need more information. but others are also saying, hey, spying on a handful of activists isn't that big of a deal. that brings us to another big story, a "washington post" over the holiday weekend that undermines the nsalongstanding defense it's focused on foreigners. nsa intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are. the post reports that ordinary internet users, american and non-american alike, far out number legally targeted foreigners in the communications intercepted by the nsa online. so, let's review for a second. the agency previously caught misleading congress about spying on americans and misleading the president about his espionage in germany and misleading everyone

about the warrants is now spying on muslims and digging through many americans e-mails instead of foreigner. where is congress on all of this? >> lindsey graham was asked, i don't know the details about what they are saying in the paper. i know intelligence gathering is necessary. we're at war with radical islam. >> yes, we are which is why spying on so many nonradical americans makes no sense. and yet like so many other other instances, we hear this is just the cost of the war on terror or worse, if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't mind the government in your inbox. those are rationalizations not principles. our constitution does care about limits on the government's power to invade our lives. our constitution does care about checking the temptation to cheat us all as suspect until proven innocent. i think our constitution does care about insuring our

formidable military and security apparatus reports in to civilian command, not the other way around. it is past time for president obama to take control of a agency that went rogue long whether he's elected and continues to take liberties today, our liberties. mr. president, please call the nsa and get your spies in check. that is it for "the cycle." "now", starts now. >> the president tries a nim bl two-step on a border in crisis. >> the front line in america's immigration crisis. the president is going to texas but will not visit the border. >> he can drink the beer and play but does not have time to