(water dripping and don't juspipes clanging)ncisco. visit tripadvisor san francisco. (soothing sound of a shower) with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. it's the yoplait greek taste-off and we're asking this sports town which blueberry greek yogurt is their champion. a tastes better. it's yoplait! i knew it! do you want to see which one yoplait greek beat? chobani. hoorah! yoplait greek wins again. take the taste-off for yourself. trading fire. the conflict is escalating right now. are there any real answers in solving the israeli palestinian fight? new and strange details. there's more today on the alleged call girl accused in the death of a google executive. the drought out west. why has it turned neighbor against neighbor in some unusual ways? that story at 1:00. and stop calling it a polar

vortex. a weather phenomenon supposed to hit parts of the u.s. this week. an explanation ahead. hey, there, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." president obama issuing a new response today to house republicans launching a lawsuit against him. >> the republican plan right now is not to do some of work with me. instead, it's to sue me. that's actually what they're spending their time on. it's a political stunt that will waste months of american's time. >> joining me now, white house correspondent chris janice isin. welcome back. what is the president saying today? >> he's talking about the economy. i've talked to several white house officials about this lawsuit. they laugh about it and they think it's a winning issue for them.

they thing that the messaging you just heard from the president, that the republicans are spending taxpayer dollars on frivolous things, when they should be focused, as he is, on the economy, is a winner for them. now, here's the question. where does it go from here? well, on wednesday, a subcommittee is going to look at this and vote on whether or not to move this lawsuit forward. it is expected they will. the president and his senior advisers at the same time will be out there saying, look, here's what we want to do for the economy. what do we want to do about the minimum wage? there are going to be infrastructure events this week by the president. they want to draw that contrast which they think, again, is something that's going to work for them across the summer. alex. >> as you know, chris, the white house is dealing with the escalating border crisis. we have homeland security security secretary jay johnson visiting the housing facility. what was he hoping to achieve with that visit? anything to do with the president's decision not to go to the border when he was in texas earlier?

>> it was a president who told us that jay johnson would be going to the border for the sixth time. he said he is the one who has been keep him apprised, among other white house officials, about what's going on there. their focus is to get a message out. you heard it again from jay johnson when he was down there on the border. they're sending a message to parents don't send your children here. we're going to send them back and it's too dangerous. they're talking about the billion dollars that the president has proposed to deal with the crisis on the border. they're saying to the republican, you need to move forward on this. particularly with the republi n republicans in the house. but there's been tremendous pushback. several top republicans said this isn't going to happen. they're talking about a change to that 2000 law. that's the law that the administration is applying when deciding who has to stay and who has to go back. that's going to be a point construction as we move forward on the hill, a lex.

>> thanks so much. >> sure. there you have it, they're turning now to developing news in the middle east. where israel's expanding its air assaults on hamas targets in gaza. a large explosion created chaos on the streets. another hit a pair of mosques where the israeli military says hamas was hiding weapons. health officials there say more than 920 people have been wounded in the wave of recent air strikes. meantime, the israeli army says more than 70 rockets have been fired from gaza in the past 24 hours. so far, no reports of any deaths in israel. but fighting shows no signs of letting up. >> it's the fifth day of this israeli assault on gaza and there's no sign that either side is backing down. the death toll now topping over

100 people here according to palestinian health officials and palestinian factions still firing rockets into israel as it amasses its forces around the border, an indication that perhaps a ground offensive is imminent. here inside gaza, still tremendous amount of sadness and anger among the palestinian population. overnight, another round of israeli air strikes killing several people across the gaza strip. we had a chance to go out today and meet the family of one of those victims, a 38-year-old. she was actually a person with disabilities that was living at a shelter for people with disabilities. that shelter came under attack. there's going to be a lot of international condemnation over why a shelter for people with disabilities was even at all attacked by the israeli military even if it wasn't the intended target. nonetheless, she was with several others killed as a result of that. today her family buried her. it was a scene that was very emotional. in this one cemetery, at least

five different bodies from the same neighborhood were also being buried. an emotional scene of anger. it gives you an indication of the tremendous loss of the people here in gatz za are now experiencing. they spend their day trying to get their hands on food, medicine or other basic commodities just to live through another day, or they spent their days burying the dead from overnight israeli air strikes. back to you. >> new reports this week the dcd dropped the ball yet again in its handling of some very dangerous substances. the agency acknowledged a sample of animal influenza sent to a lab was contaminated with the deadly h5n1 flu virus exposing workers to infection. what's worst, the report went unreported for six weeks. no one was infected in any of the incidents. so take a look at this video. a federal express truck stalled

on a freeway shutting down traffic. typically this type of thing would not warrant guys in hazmat suits. however, this particular truck happened to be carrying 200 gallons of like qod peroxide. likely to explode if the temperature rises above 50 degrees. luckily, the fedex driver called for help before any mishaps. a message to sky gazers. keep an eye out for the moon tonight as it is expected to be bigger and brighter than normal. the super man phenomenon occurs only a few times every year. tonight's showing will be the first of three this year. the others are expected to crop up in august and september. one part of the country's bracing for some plummeting temperatures while another gets ready for the mercury to rise. the weather channel's jennifer car fa carfagno joins us with more. >> big story. a very strong cold front. today it brings severe weather chances across the midwest and

moves tomorrow, getting into the ohio valley and northeast. damaging winds are going to be the main threat. there's also a hail threat that we'll be tracking for a couple of day. then we take a look at the overall pattern. so i give you this. this is a look at our globe tilt so you can see the cool air up here of course at the north pole. we're going to get a piece of that down into the midwest. the story next week is going to be how cool the temperatures are for this time of year. we're going to be talking more like september or even early together level readings for mid-july. mid-60s for highs. that's about it. we'll see that through the midwest. it's going to be cooler air. it's also going to be dryer air. no humidity in this air. we'll feel all the way down, oklahoma to arkansas. on the flip side, we'll have that cool air in the midwest. in the northwest, we're going to be heating up. we've got about six days in a row of heat in the northeast. a very long heat wave for us. so we're tracking that, all the way into monday, tuesday, wednesday of next week here it it's going to be another big

story that we'll be watching for you. that's a look at our top stories, alex, back to you. nba super star lebron james is heading home to cleveland. he has agreed to a four-year deal with the cavs. how will it affect the city beyond the basketball court? wkyc's will has more from cleveland. >> very exciting time in cleveland, especially for local businesses that surround the q. if you're in walking distance behind me, you can see east fourth, a lot of restaurants and bars. they're going to be packed. they've been there before and they know the feeling. not just that, you walk down here, the horseshoe, casino, very close to the q. they'll be picking up business as well. take a look at hotels and parking garages downtown. they all plan for packed people coming downtown for every cavs game. it streps to the suburbs as well. a lot of people will be getting together to watch the cavs, watch lebron james. more people, need more service.

more service, you need more money. that's what's going to get it done. more people, more jobs as well. so the economy here in northeast ohio expecting a big boom with lebron's decision to come back. and another market that's really working right now is the t-shirt company. right here from fresh brewed ts, forgiven. they had lines at midnight stretched way down the street last night. they can't get these things printed out quick enough. another t-shirt company says they have a new shirt coming out today as well. business is booming. everyone very excited here in cleveland. alex. >> all right, thank you for that. as many of you may remember, the cleveland cavaliers owner dan gilbert wrote a critical letter when lebron first left. i'll talk about that later on this hour. throw money at it, but will that solve the crisis on the border? how the $3.7 billion would be used and what might happen if it's not passed by congress. 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. yobut you may notds. know we're a family. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. like days inn, where you can do everything under the sun. save up to 15 percent and earn bonus points when you book at wyndhamrewards.com that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve..

at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if frustration and paperwork decrease... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things. let's close the gap between people and care. [ 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.

turning now to the tens of thousands of immigrant children in limbo. homeland security secretary jay johnson toured a facility used as a temporary housing for hundreds of undocumented immigrants. johnson also discussed president obama's request for nearly $4 billion in emergency funds, which he says is essential for dealing with this crisis. nbc's jennifer burkeland is in jennifer, welcome back. >> this morning has been particularly quiet. we haven't seen anything cross here in the rio grande valley. we've been watching here at the border and it has been quiet but that's been sort of the pattern

the last week or so. the estimated numbers of people who are trying to cross here have dropped by a third. a few weeks ago, it was common to see maybe 1,500 in this entire valley area coming across in one day. in the last week, it's dropped to maybe 1,000. one day there was even just 500 apprehended here at the border. so it's definitely slowing down. why, though, that's the big question, alex. >> i know there's a lot of reasons, at least speculation, going on about that. can you tell us some of them? >> well, the most optimistic one is that they're getting the message from the u.s. it's filtering down that it's a very dangerous crossing and if they get here they're going to be warehoused and then maybe sent back. that's what they're hoping is the reason for the showdown. we don't really know because they can only interview the people who came. the ones who didn't come, we don't know what their reasons are. there was also a derailment of that plane that comes through mexico, the beast, as it's known, last week that might have slowed down some of the traffic.

as they make that 1,200-mile trek from qualiguatemala throug mexico. there's talk about some of the smugglers who had just completely made up this date of june 30th, you have to get across the border or else it won't count. that deadline passed. maybe people that were thinking about coming believed that sales pitch and decided, well, i guess we missed it. so we won't really know for a few weeks if the train is now running again, if the flow is up in a few days. there's just really no way to tell, alex. >> we appreciate the interpretation. jennifer borklund, thank you so much. representati representative, thanks for joining me. we have the president, as you know, who has requested this emergency funding. the republican chair of the house appropriations committee

bulked at that figure and says not everything needs to be dealt with immediately. did the president overreach? >> i don't think so. we need to deal with this problem. it's certainly a much less expensive prospect than what the senate passed in their immigration package with $30 billion on the border. but if, you know, where rogers or other members of the republican conference have another idea as to what we need to do and how much we need to spend to achieve that, we should have that conversation. i think the point the president's making is that we can do something about this. we can deal with this humanitarian crisis. we can speed up the process of adjudication of these cases and get those that need to be sent back sent back and provide shelter and some security for those that really do need asylum. i think the question is, what will it take to do it. mr. roger, has another idea to what it will cost, i think we're open to suggestion. >> i do want to break down this figure, this $3.7 billion. because the largest goes to hhs for housing and taking care of

the children. the rest goes to things like prosecutions, hiring attorneys to deal with the backlog, repatriating immigrants back to their home countries. are there other needs that you can see being lost in this mass imappropriations request, things you would want to see added? >> what i would like to see is a comprehensive immigration reform. the need for this stop gap measure is really precipitated by the fact that we haven't dealt with immigration reform. so i think the elements that the president has proposed makes sense for this particular crisis. but until we take a look at the biggest picture, deal with border security, deal with the broken visa system, deal with this question of how we deal with -- how we address asylum seekers, provide more resources for immigration courts, so that we can process cases in a more timely fashion. what's included in the package

are the right elements, but it certainly is no replacement for comprehensive reform. if i had my choice, it would be that this crisis to the extent that it is a crisis would move congress to do what it should have done a long time ago, and it's take up comprehensive immigration reform. >> especially the part with the portion to the state department, that allotment in part is going towards helping central american governments identify the underflying problems causing the exodus. can money from the united states really help that issue? is that our responsibility? >> well, whether it's our responsibility or not, it's a responsible way to try to stem the tide. because if we don't deal with it at the source, if we don't deal with trying to minimize the number who are coming to the borders that are perhaps not legitimate asylum seekers, then we're going to have to pay perhaps more and do more to deal with addressing those cases when they come. this is one of those questions where one could argue that these are not our responsibilities.

but there are consequences for failing to act. just as there are consequences for failing to deal with immigration reform, there would be consequences for not trying to address the problem at the source. and those consequences will be more people coming to the border. more cases that will have to adjust date. and that comes with a big price tag. the question is what's the most prudent way to use the resources we have to deal with this problem. i think what the president has suggested makes sense. >> that what happened in southern california where residents and outsiders came into the town and turned around buses that were headed there for processing, if you will. there is a proposal from a social services group to create a facility in your district to house some of these children. there was a meeting that got pretty heated, we're told. ways the status of that and what has been the reaction among your constituents? >> there's been no decision about the facility. it's operated by a organization

called wolverine human services. they have a very good reputation. but no decision has been made. the reaction has been fairly predictable. the loudest voices are those who are pushing back against this. many of them come from outside my district but some from within. the problem is all the extreme speech, and this comes from members of congress in washington, unfortunately, but also talk radio, other voices, all the extreme speech, i think, has fanned the flames of this reaction in a way that's completely inconsistent with the reality. these are children, for the most part, who have been victims or could be victimized who are seeking asylum in the united states. in the tens of thousands, not millions. it's not an invasion. all this extreme language being used by politicians in washington to try to curry favor with the base for the november elections has consequences. so i think much of the reaction

would be far more rationale if we didn't have people in washington fanning those flames. the vast majority of people i speak to in my home district, they're compassionate. they understand this is a problem we need to deal with. they understand that children who are victims out to be protected. there are those voices out there that are susceptible to extreme speech. they seem to be dominated the air waves, unfortunately. >> while the president was in texas, do you wish he had gone to the border and checked things out firsthand? >> well, here's the thing, i don't think whether he goes to the border or not changes the basic dynamic. would i have suggested he go to the border? probably. but i think much is being made of whether he goes to the border. he sent to congress a request for $3.7 billion to address the problem. that's what he should be about doing, trying to fix the problem. but, you know, for the optics of it, would it have made a

difference? perhaps, you know, i just think sometimes the focus is not on fixing the problem, but as we always hear, fixing the blame. to point out that the president failed to to go to the border when what he's trying to do is come up with a solution to the problem, i think the focus is on the wrong point. >> as much as this is a crisis with the immediate needs -- this is an election year. then there's 2016. is it foolish to thing we are going to have real immigration reform any time in the near future? >> well, i mean, i hope that this crisis would get congress to think about that. but i don't see anything moving the republican leadership. and that's really where the bottleneck is, let's face it. the senate has passed immigration reform. we have a bill. i've co-sponsored it in the house. here's what i suggest. cancel the recess. if speaker boehner doesn't feel we have enough time to take this up, cancel the recess. monday morning, go to the floor

of the house, announce we're canceling the recess and we will take up immigration reform. we can get it done. it's not that we don't have time. so to me there isn't anything that would prevent us from taking this up except the will to do it. >> all right, representative, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> ahead, the prodigal son returns. why some say he should not have rejoined his one team that had nothing to do with playing basketball. piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. (vo) you know that dream... where you're the hero? hey... you guys mind warming this fella up for me? i'm gonna go back down, i saw some recyclables.

make it happen with verizon xlte. find a car service. we've doubled our 4g lte bandwidth in cities coast to coast. thanks! sure. we've got a spike in temperature. so save the day... don't worry, i got this... oh yeah, i see your spaceship's broken. with xlte on largest, most reliable network. get 50% off smartphones like the new lg g3. legs, for crossing. feet...splashing. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. don't start xeljanz if you have any infection,

unless ok with your doctor. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and routinely check certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you are pregnant, or plan to be. taken twice daily, xeljanz can reduce the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe ra, even without methotrexate. ask if xeljanz is right for you. of moderate to severe ra, even without methotrexate. i make a lot of purchases foand i get ass. lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points

when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards, even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. in today's tech watch, connecting more classrooms to the internet. paying for wifi networks in the nation's schools. the fcc chairman says 10 million children will gain wireless connectivity. that money comes from fees tacked on to your phone bill. now to today's number ones. who look at the ripple of lebron james' return to cleveland. the king brings to cleveland a princely sum of new found wealth

for the team's owner. how about $100 million from television rights fees and ratings. then ticket sales. available season tickets quickly sold out after lebron's announcement. the prices reportedly remain the same, at least for now. when you factor in everything, forbes says lebron's return is worth $4$400 million or more ov the next four years. oddsmakers are already seeing plenty of ws. book makers give the cavs the best odds at 4-1 to win it all next year. the heat, they're now 50-1. to celebrate his return, ohio's cedar point is renaming one of its 17 roller coasters king james. kind of appropriate given lebron's ups and downs with the team. 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. [ 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. oh boy, this always happeyou're clean.ther. you got that right! bam! just gotta check your bag. huh, charmin ultra strong. you're cleaner than i thought. charmin ultra strong cleans so much better it meets even his highest standards of clean. with a soft duraclean texture, charmin ultra strong is 4 times stronger. and you can use up to 4x less. are you good to go hun? cleaner than ever. rotorooter approved. charmin is clog-free or it's free. welcome back to "weekends

with alex witt." the death toll in gaza is rising. as the battle of rockets between israel and hamas reaches its fifth day. prime minister netanyahu says he is considering all possibilities to halt the barrage of hamas rockets, 700 in four days. that amounts to one every ten minutes. joining me now, the washington editor at large for "the atlantic." we're now at this point where both sides are saying if the other stops firing, so will they. it's kind of a game of chicken here with the civilians in the impact zone. is there any negotiating between israel and hamas? >> there is if someone steps in from the outside. right now the incentives that each has to keep this going are overwhelming the desire to stop. right now, benjamin netanyahu is trying to show the full force and might of his country in dealing with rockets which are raining down but not getting through israel. and hamas which has been in a political squeeze for a while is

trying to demonstrate it's the true rebel that is continuing to fight israeli occupation. unless president, unless the europeans with the quartet step down and ask all parties to step down, the problem is hamas is not connected to any of these. hamas is the untalked to party in this mess. so the israelis had negotiated with hamas in the past. if they stand up to that, maybe this can end, but i don't see it happening any time soon. >> secretary kerry has made the palestinian situation a major focus. there were times when it looked like headway could be made, but how many steps back have we now taken, do you think? >> john kerry is a great man. i think he had great purposes in trying to step forward and make this a high priority of his tenure at state. of course, barack obama, when he came into the white house, did the same thing. there are consequences when peace talks fall apart. we had a period of time without this kind of violence. we had hamas, i won't say behaving, but at least

restraining itself. you had the effort with fatah and mahmoud abbas trying to look at a border solution that might go forward. when it steps up, people change their vectors. in a deal where we can live without occupation, they then think the legitimate strategy is a violent one and right now that is the knot that we're in. and it is the consequences. one of the things president obama says is we can't want peace more than they do. that's not really true. the rest of the world needs more peace than either palestinian or the israeli political systems can sell to their own people. it's one of the reasons why i've said we've got to stop necess y necessarily waiting for each side to come to some coupkumbay moment but look at a structure that can force both of them into a peace arrangement. >> how about a populous movement of moderates on both sides?

any hope there that that could bring about results? >> there are some people -- this is the time for them to step out. one that i had some hope for who was trying to run a third secular kind of gandhi-like party in palestinian was marwan b bargudy and he's been on the show many times. he's been around. he's a doctor. he's a very, very well-thought of person, in palestinian, both leaders. so you need to have leaders emerge, but thus far, they've not been able to undo the big constitutional infrastructure of the governing parties of hamas or fatah or palestine. in israel, we see that right now, that leaning right and leaning into violence actually holds the political coalition around netanyahu more together more than leaning towards peace or leaning towards a negotiating outcome which might have a different political calculation for israel's government.

as long as that remains, even great leaders that might step up to try and say, you know, with mutual respect, with listening to one another, and the fact is if you basically poll, for a long time, until recently, if you poll populations, they want a negotiated deal around the forms of what had been called the negeneva initiatives. even ariel sharon before his stroke believed some sort of deal like this would solve some issues towards peace. >> talk about complicated, multilayered. this conflict. you have iraq under siege. you've got syria. lebanon. has its own infighting. egypt with terror attacks in the sinai. unrest throughout that country. now america's allies in some of those conflicts are its enemies in the rest. i mean, diplomacy is complicated. >> yeah, diplomacy's very

complicated. one of the really interesting factor, right now is you've got essentially a shia sun/sunni ci war going on throughout the region in country after country after country. that is really taking most of the attention and consuming most of the attention in the region. that's a very different battle than one between arab muslims and israeli jews. i think when you look at that conflict which has been going on for a long time, it's a side show compared to what we've seen elsewhere. one of the missed opportunities, frankly, is when we invited iraq, took out hussein, many sunni states like the saudis, the united arab emirates and so on that were sunni nations were trying to feel out whether there was some form of soft deal. you know, the arab peace plan was based on trying to do a deal with israel which is the reigning super power in the region. you had a step forward on that.

israel would have been able to coordinate its security with many arab states in the region and probably do more to roll back some of iran's growing influence in the region. >> okay, great conversation as always. invitation to come back any time. thank you. it is time now for headlines. the obama administration is scrambling to mend its relationship with germany. that move came after spying allegations sur fashioned involving two german officers were were caught working for the cia. operators at a michigan amupsment park are still trying to figure out what caused the release of a giant chlorine gas cloud at one of its wave pools on friday. h hazmat teams hosed them down at a makeshift decontamination area. good news for crumbs cake lovers. cnbc star marcus lemonis and s

another party has agreed to buy the bakeries. he says he plans to diversify and offer customers more than just cupcakes. let's go out in to cleveland. it's a sports story that transcends sports. in fact, in that midwest city, it could help lead a rust belt revival. the story of course is about basketball super star lebron james whose odyssey back to his hometown sparked euphoria in one city and disdain in another. in some corners, there are questions. should he have gone back? joining me now is jason johnson, a professor at a college just outside of cleveland. this morning, you're joining me from atlanta. good to see you as always. i want to get your immediate reaction when you heard the news. what was it? >> i was shocked. i was really shocked. and i was kind of disappointed. i had just been in cleveland last week. no one there thought that lebron

was going to come back. my friends there. you know, between the gop convention and lebron, this has been the weird et week in cleveland in ten years. >> okay, but wait, you seem to be disappointed. aren't you glad he's coming back to play for the cavs? >> i'm glad for him. because it's a good basketball move for him. but i and a lot of people who i talked to in the city, there's a strain of people who don't forgive dan gilbert. before donald sterling, it was dan girl bettelbert. that rant he had was really hostile, unprofessional. there's some people, i'm one of them, as happy as i may be for the cavs and city of cleveland, i have trouble rooting for any team where dan gilbert will benefit. >> here's what he wrote. for anyone who doesn't know, it was a much different story then. he wrote, you simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal in his letter to the city. so he now says that james said i've met with him face-to-face.

everybody makes mistakes. who am i to hold a grunl? so they've gotten past it, it should seem. >> well, yes, of course, because money's involved. the interesting thing to remember, there's a tremendous amount of money that lebron will bring back to the city. it's great for his professional narrative. dan gilbert didn't just go after james, he spearheaded the lockout against the players to rewrite the entire collective bargaining agreement with labor so that lebron could never do something like that again. it's very interesting that he got mad at him four years ago for going to create a super team but now dan gilbert is going to do exactly what he complained about four years ago. >> he seems to transcend sports, don't you think? why do you think that is? where does he fit in great sports figures? >> by the time he's over, he just turned 30 this year, so it will be probably another eight

years. he will be pushing michael jordan and, dare i say, arthur ashe territory. this is the first social media sports super star the united states has ever seen. he came from humble beginnings. he married his high school girl friend. he's kept his nose clean. he's never been in any kind of trouble. he's great philanthropically. he's become very politically active. during the trayvon martin/zimmerman trial and most recently with donald sterling. that's why people who generally could care less about basketball actually pay attention. >> do you see any downside for cleveland or that part of ohio, the region in general, for having him return, or is it all thumbs up good? >> it is all thumbs up good. i mean, first off, he's going to bring hundreds of millions of dollars back to the city. he's going to bring investment back to the city. he's going to -- people like me, you know, when it's cold in cleveland in december and you don't want to go downtown, we're going to go downtown to watch

lebron james now. it's going to be great. i think what's particularly special about this is even if he never wins a championship in the city, and i'm glad i'm down here because if i said this down home, i'd be in trouble. even if he never wins a championship, the amount of enthusiasm he will bring back to cleveland sports, it is a win-win for everybody involved. politicians, businesspeople and the fans. >> so my executive producer is from cleveland. oh, man, i'm going to never hear the end of it, that's all i have to say. they're going to ditch me and go to games. then where will i be? good for you guys. jason johnson, thank you. ahead, who is she? the latest on the 26-year-old call girl linked tore the mysterious death of a google executive. thcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close.

so let's simplify things. let's close the gap between people and care. ♪ when the pressure's on... let's close the gap between people and care. only secret offers clinical strength invisible solid and clear gel with 100% odor protection. secret clinical strength.

don't wait for awesome... totino's pizza rolls... ...gets you there in just 60 seconds.

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. california police say she is, quote, glacially cold. 26-year-old alex tichelman is being held on $1.5 million bail

in the death of google official forest hayes. he was found dead on his yacht in november. now police in georgia say they're re-examining the heroin overdose death of another man who used to date tichelman. >> both subjects in these cases died of heroin overdoses. so there's just several factors that we want to look at to make sure that we didn't miss anything. >> with a welcome to you, i'd like to hear the latest on the investigation into the california case and also a connection to a reexamination of the case in georgia. what do you know of that? >> so far, she is in custody. she's in jail. and she's refused media requests, understandably. the attention has, like you just said, been focused on a case that happened two months earlier than this case that happened in santa cruz involving the google executive in which an ex-boyfriend died of a heroin

overdose in her presence. and because of that, police are taking another look at the case. because of the general similarities to the case here in the bay area. >> okay, the police say she's glacially cold. >> they're saying that based on surveillance video they were able to obtain from the night of mr. hayes' death, that is the google executive. she injected him with a shot of heroin that turned out to be lethal. and as he was dying, the video purportedly shows her being very casual about cleaning up the scene. she knocks back a glass of wine. she's very deliberate about her actions. and then she -- as she leaves, she closes a blind so that his body isn't easily viewed from outside. he wasn't found until the next

morning when the ship captain came in to check. >> tichelman has posted a lot of things online. she's got pictures, poems, a video of her giving a makeup tur torial. what kind of detail, have you learned about her life and her past? >> she falls into that kind of i guess -- has since surfaced as what you consider to be a salacious lifestyle only in the context of the fact that she's being accused of manslaughter now. it kind of amps up in the public consciousness as far as her being into bondage and her posting social media comments about liking to have conversations about murder and, you know, serial killings and that sort thing. so it's a very dark kind of sensibility that, again, in and of itself, probably would be fine, but it takes on another character in life given the charges that she faces.

>> absolutely. thank you so much for weighing in, appreciate it. ahead, acting is lying. how one of hollywood's a-list stars overcame stage fright as a young actor. of the services your vehicle needs. so prepare your car for any road trip by taking it to an expert ford technician. because no matter your destination good maintenance helps you save at the pump. get our multi-point inspection with a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more for $29.95 or less. get a complete vehicle checkup only at your ford dealer. 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.

last time i had sex, i tore my acl. >> is this relevant? >> i just thought it's information you should have. >> is this some pat thoughtic attempt at flirtation? >> when you put it that way, no. >> good night. >> night. >> ouch. that was a scene from "and so it goes," a new film directed by rob reiner and starring michael douglas. i sat down with him to get his take on the movie, what it was like to work with diane keaton and how art imitates life. i'm so excited to talk about "and so it goes." so how did it go and why did you decide to do it? >> great, great script.

written by the same man who did "as good as it gets," rob reiner. i love, you know, we did "the american president" together, and diane keaton, somebody i've been wishing to work with, i never have before. and it was a wonderful love story. told from a different point of view. you know those love stories about teenagers and all this. this is about people in their 60s who think they're never going to find it again and they do. i probably say this is a baby boomer picture and then beyond that people who like good movies, because it turned out really well, i'm proud of it. >> as you know, your character, orrin little, he has a troubled dynamic with his son. rob's directing of the film, very different. he said some of these scenes were emotional for you, given your struggles, that your son cameron has faced. is rob right, and also, how is cameron doing? >> rob was thoughtful and

sensitive enough to see the parallel between a scene in the movie where my son in the movie is -- goes to prison. but my son cameron is in federal prison on drug charges. he's holding up pretty well. he's been in already 5 1/2 years. we're trying to work things out. and, you know, we'll see. >> yeah, fingers crossed on that front. diane keaton, what was it like working with her for the first time? >> she's a fruitcake, i mean in the best sense of the word. you know, she talks about -- she doesn't really act, you know, she is just who she is. if you look back at her different movies in terms of the way she dresses, her hats, and this, she hasn't really changed. so whatever scene we would do, she came into the scene with her headphones on, always listening to music, and then all of a

sudden, off come the headphones and she just exists -- actually, the only other person i know is jack nicholson who is probably more comfortable in front of the camera than they are in real life. diane's a lot like that. >> what's interesting about you, you're so comfortable in front of the camera. off the camera, you're candid. you've done producing. you've done it all in this industry. what is it that speaks to you the most, that you think best represents michael douglas? >> i would have to say the early part of my career, i had terrible stage friday. i was not comfortable at all in front of a camera. i did a television series in the '70s, "streets of san francisco." i did 104 hours. and it was really just the rotes and doing it over and over again that made me kind of comfortable. and somebody once said, you know, the camera can always tell when you're lying. i remember, it made me so

nervous to think, ooh, it's like an x-ray machine, it can tell when you're lying. you know, i was always trying to scrape the skin off just to get down to reality. then i realized, wait a minute, people lie all the time. you lie in life. you know, you tell a story, you lie. i mean, acting is lying. and once i realized that, it kind of, you know, kind of freed me up. so that part has made acting, you know, much, much more enjoyable for me. and since my cancer really three years ago, it's been a much broader warmer and nurturing experience. >> well, i know that you are physically doing well, you sure look great. since the camera never lies, i'll tell you how excited i am to see this movie "and so it goes" and to talk with you too because you're really a hero to so many of us. you're so fun to watch. good luck with the film.

i'll be seeing it real soon. >> thanks, alex, really great talking with you. >> we can all see it real soon. "and so it goes" hits theaters in two weeks on july 25th. a record number of americans reporting multiracial. we'll talk to a filmmaker. and later, the brand-new water slide in kansas city that's testing the limits, all that and more ahead. (vo) you know that dream... where you're the hero? hey... you guys mind warming this fella up for me? i'm gonna go back down, i saw some recyclables. make it happen with verizon xlte. find a car service. we've doubled our 4g lte bandwidth in cities coast to coast. thanks! sure. we've got a spike in temperature. so save the day... don't worry, i got this... oh yeah, i see your spaceship's broken. with xlte on largest, most reliable network. get 50% off smartphones like the new lg g3.

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. running for cover, running for their lives. israeli air attacks in gaza with a potential air attack in the offing. a slowdown in the illegal immigrant crossings. is the crisis slowing? water fight. a station state conservation measures could lead to neighborhood snitching. a freak wave of arctic air plunges south. so what does it mean? taking the plunge. a water ride for the ages now

making an historic splash. and blast off there. a pyrofeat becomes saturday morning spectacular. good day to all of you. we turn to the crisis along the u.s./mexican border and some possible relief. new reports that the recent surge of undocumented immigrants may be waning a bit, at least for now. meantime, secretary of homeland security jay johnson backs the president's request for $3.7 billion to manage the situation. he spent friday touring an immigrant holding facility. a clear message for those planning to cross the border illegally. >> this facility, which was opened as a detention facility

on june 27th, represented the proof that we intend to and we will send people back who come in to the rio grande valley sector illegally. >> as lawmakers clash over how to handle the situation, tens of thousands of women and children remain in limbo within the system. nbc is along the border in mission, texas. we have secretary jay johnson saying as many as 90,000 unaccompanied minors could stream across this border by september. what are you seeing out there today? >> well, we're on track for that, if the trend that has started this year continues. but, alex, this has been a very slow day along the border. border patrol agents who are along here in the rio grande valley say they haven't seen anyone trying to crossing. that's not unusual. it's the heat of the day. this evening, though, things are expected to heat up as they do every evening. the overall trend has been pretty remarkable. the crossings have dropped by

about one-third in the last week. and maybe that message that you heard just at the top of this broadcast, maybe that's getting through to central america. that's what they're hoping. but they don't want to get too optimistic too soon because they've seen ebbs and flows like this before. it could just be a momentary thing and then, you know, they could be back again. but for now, it seems to have slowed down dramatically, alex. >> this message of we will send you back, that was certainly just said by jay johnson, but the obama administration has been putting out messages, producing messages to play in spanish. do you think that's part of it? >> they do a very full debrief wither th everybody they detain find out what they were hearing that made them want to make this dangerous and expensive trip. they don't get to talk to the

people who didn't come so they won't know what the slowdown is about and if the message is getting through. they're just going to have to wait and see as the tide maybe turns the other way . the only people they can really talk to are the ones who come here. >> from there, let's go to the white house and nbc's peter alexander. with a welcome. what did the secretary hope to accomplish? do you think it is all related to the president opting not to visit the border? >> i think a lot of people will say this is an effort to make up for the president not going to the border. but the white house says the president is aware, that he is constantly updated by officials, including jay johnson, whose trip mark, the sixth time he has been there since last december. most significantly, the message by secretary johnson was very clear. that this administration, in his eyes, in most eyes, is working

quickly to try to expedite a solution to this process right now. they're trying to open new detention facilities, jay johnson said. if you're not put into a detention facility, you're basically turned over and you just go into the american population at large. they know they need to have more detention facility so they can deport people more quickly. johnson was quick to say if his conversations with staff at the detention facility that they communicated some illegal immigrants said they were surprised they were detained. that they are not able to stay here. jay johnson delivering that message in person earlier this week when he visited guatemala. >> the democratic members of the spanish caucus are set to meet with the president later this week. >> we don't have specifics beyond that in term of its timing but we know the

congressional hispanic caucus has said it's really going to urge the president to take bold steps to reduce deportation. we've heard from a series of members of that caucus, including gutierrez who says he hopes the president will extent similar relief to those people in this country who have been eligible for legalization under the bipartisan senate bill that apparently is not going anywhere. the house republicans aren't going to take this up right now, but they're helpful president obama unilaterally can do things to allow the people already here and are not high priority to stay in this country. this obviously is a really big challenge for this white house right now. on one hand, they're trying to be strict and really to push back and not allowing more people to come here and to deport more undocumented immigrants. at the same time, they're trying to deal with some of the left, left-leaning liberal democrats and members of the immigration advocates who want more of those people to be able to stay.

>> peter alexander at the white house, thanks so much, peter. >> now, the crisis in the middle east. more than 120 people killed in air strikes on gaza, with the near constant barrage on israel. just moments ago, the president of the united nations security council issued a statement for the reinstitution of the 2012 cease-fire that brought a relative calm. joining me from tel aviv israel, nbc news special correspondent martin fletcher. talk about the situation on the ground there today. does this statement from the u.n. carry any weight? >> i think the u.n. -- the statement does carry a lot of weight. certainly israel has already said they would like the fighting to stop. they're calling for calm. also indicated now they're interested in talking about it and there's more diplomatic speed building up. tomorrow in europe, the british, the french, the germans, the

americans, are going to be meeting to talk about coming up with a truce proposal. on monday, the arab league is supposed to be meeting for the same reason. so this here, the call by the u.n. security council of course is the biggest call that could be made. however, the israeli prime minister netanyahu has already said that israel will not stop firing -- fighting rockets on gaza until the rockets stop coming from gaza. there have been about 50 rockets from gaza fired at israeli targets. today, israel's continued its air raid attacks against gaza. at least five people killed in gaza. by the way, in addition to those five, two nephews of the former palestinian prime minister, they were killed on their way back from the mosque. so this is a very personal tragedy for a very many people in gaza. israel of course has been spared the worst of it because of the amazing success of its anti-rocket system, the iron dome. but the fear is that eventually

a rocket from the palestinians, from hamas, will get through to an israeli town, cause significant damage. at that point, the feared israeli ground invasion could be more likely. all this intervention is really to stop an israeli ground invasion which would make things much, much worse. alex. >> you talk about the personal aspect. it strikes me you have been reporting on this story for close to how years. israel is also your home. you are a war correspondent who commutes to work. i mean, martin, is there any cause for hope? >> well, you know what, everybody has to hope, because that's the only way you can live in a place like this. i don't think there is much hope of a real peace. the only thing one hopes for i think israelis and palestinians is a truce. i mean, the 2012 cease-fire agreement wasn't much more than a cease-fire agreement. it simply called for a secession

of activities from both sides. more goods were allowed into gaza. the essential problem remains, which is there's no peace agreement between israel and the palestinians. neither side i don't believe has any real hope there's one on the horizon. secretary of state kerry's attempts this year to achieve a peace agreement fell apart completely. and so, again, the hope one has here is just one of peace and quiet. actual really peace, not much hope, i'm sorry to say, alex. back at home, cold air is making a return and it's threatening the warmth of summer. but don't call it a polar vortex. nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: think back five to six months ago when many of us developed a deep hatred for a weather phenomenon we'd never heard of before. >> the polar vortex allows it to

make its way down to the south. >> i don't think in my years of standing here i've ever been this cold. >> now we're in the next deep freeze and the next polar vortex, that next thaw, for better or worse, could be a long ways off. >> this is typically the warmest time of the summer so this is no doubt going to be a shock to the system especially those in the upper midwest where temperatures will be about 30 degrees below average for this time of year. >> reporter: experts say that mass imive typhoon is forcing t jet stream to take a big dip to the south. the weather service was calling it the return of the polar vortex. but meteorologists say really only a piece of the polar vortex will make it feel like fall football weather next week. >> very cold air hiding above the arctic circle. that's coming down july style. it's not january, july. and that will bring some record lows our way. >> reporter: hit hard by the polar vortex last winter, chicago. >> it doesn't feel like summer

has gotten here yet. >> reporter: now at the lickety-split ice cream shop, they're preparing. >> when it's 60, we see less people. >> it's going to be like 55. that's cold for the summer but not a polar vortex. >> reporter: it will only be a chilly swim for many cities. in bad news, the real start to autumn is just two months away. the president wants almost $4 million to battle the human crisis at the border. what will that money pay for? this...is jane. her long day on set starts with shoulder pain... ...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm. [bell ring] "roll sound!" "action!"

look at what i put together. cheddar and honey nut chex mix. get outta here! i made this belt with traditional, bold, and peanut butter chocolate chex mix. you guys are cute! i've got trail mix, peanut lovers, chipotle cheddar, dark chocolate, hot n' spicy... turtle, cookies 'n cream, italian herb & parmesan, sour cream 'n onion, and brownie supreme chex mix. and it rotates. 20 flavors, lots of pieces. chex mix pick your mix. now try popped in white cheddar and sweet and salty. carmax is the best place to start your car search.e, great for frank, who's quite particular... russian jazz funk? next to swedish hip hop. when he knows what he wants... - thank you. do you have himalayan toad lilies? spotted, or speckled?

speckled. yes. he has to have it. a cubist still life of rye bread... sold. it's perfect. which is why we'll ship a canary yellow jeep with leather seats from dallas to burbank if it's the one frank wants. carmax. start here.

a fireworks show of sorts in cleveland takes down an old bridge. all it took was 182 pounds of explosives this morning to level the 55-year-old bridge. new bridges are replacing that one after engineers discovered some sections of the steel were

aging faster than expected and became unsafe. pretty dramatic pictures though. today, republicans and some democrats are pushing back against president obama's rekwecht for nearly $4 billion in emergency funding for the immigration crisis. house appropriations committee chair hal rogers says the plan is not going to happen and not all of it is needed for the immediate crisis. so what will help? joining me now, democratic congressman from arizona. it's nice to welcome you back to the program. thanks for joining me. >> thank you, appreciate being invited. >> did the president overreach with this plan? >> i think -- i think it was an effort to try to satisfy a lot of demands upon the president and the white house. but essentially the plan, if you look at it, is a response to implementing fully the rule of law, which is the 2008 law that requires a treatment for these children from central america, noncontiguous countries, in a

different way than we treat kids from contiguous countries, canada and mexico. it's assuring they have representation, custodial care. if they're going to be reintegrated into the country, to make sure all the consequences are explored. i really believe that the cost of implementing that part of the law is essentially the big part of this packet. >> your district covers the majority of arizona's border wr mexico. you see this crisis firsthand. is it a question of money, being able to gfix the problem, is it more to it? is it cultural? >> thank you for the question. because i think the border lands all along the u.s./mexico border is unique unto itself. and the cultural historic ties and that region are very powerful. it is also -- it is also an area

in which there's economic development needs. it's an area that has serious kinds of issues regarding resources and employment. but, i think that we have to look at that border in a different way. we have to look at that border as something that is a more cooperative effort of enforcement but more importantly, who we target and how we target. these kids that are coming over, part of the exploitation is coming from organized crime syndicates who are making false promises and the fear of violence is driving parents and kids to leave their country and try to find a safe haven. safe haven being the united states. i think there has to be a focus both to the financial side and begin to squeeze that, as well as the ens forcement side and begin to really target these organized human smuggling rings that also smuggle guns, that also smuggle drugs, and that is the focus that many of us as

part of the central mission of security, needs to be. that is the biggest threat and we should treat them like a threat. >> i'm curious your reaction to this. the president did not visit the border. you wanted hip to go. he also got a lot of criticism. is this just thought effort? do you think his not going may have a larger impact? >> i think it became theater when the republicans were demanding it and perry was demanding it. like i said, you know, the trip to austin and dalts and not going to the border, this issue's not going to go away. there's an opportunity, practically, symbolically. i think the president needs to come to the border lands to get a look at this reality. a lot of people come. republican and, unfortunately, democratic colleagues come to the border, take a picture next

to the wall, i'm for security, and then fly back to their district. that is not the complexity of what we're dealing with. i think the president would show the importance to this borderlands and look at the reality. >> here's in terms of the record, two years ago the president issued the dreamer's legislation. deportations are at a record high. can you rate this president overall? what grade would you give him? >> unfinished business. and, and, and the president i think justifiably at one point, and i think to some extend naively at another point, really expected the republican majority in the house to at some point go along with something that was a compromise like the senate or try to do something to move comprehensive reform forward and to fix this broken system and we see it every day in south texas and we see it every day in

arizona. but that didn't happen, and so now the obligation, the responsibility, about how to temper this really harsh deportation policy that was put in place to please the republicans, now how do you temper that with executive orders and how do you protect families? now the responsibility. because the president now is the last option to try to begin to fix this system. >> as the president has said, i'm curious if you agree with him, the moral, the humanitarian aspect, it's hard to weigh that against the law and just pushing these people out of our country. >> i think that is central question, alex, you know, i don't know who made the quote, but good politics is about having heart. and good policy is about having heart. the american people's capacity

for decency and compassion is unbelievable. and i really think we need to appeal to that and not just this harsh issue of enforcement that has become the only thing we do in immigration reform. we don't do anything else. i think there is a qualitative mixture of the two. and that's the consensus we've been trying to reach. that's the consensus we haven't reached. >> representative from arizona, thank you so much for your time, good to see you. a fascinating search for a family's past from harlem to china. we're going to preview a new documentary that tells their story next.

a fascinating new documentary about heritage and family follows three successful sibling his raised in harlem. as they embark on an emotional

journey to find their ancestral roots some 7,000 miles away in china. >> i went to our family village. and translated over the gate -- the gate, the entrance. what was translated to me was it says prosperity, family and education. and i thought, what does my family stand for but that. >> this film is called finding samuel lo, from harlem to china. joining me now, entrepreneur and filmmaker and star, paula madison. thank you for joining me. >> thanks, alex. >> it's a great story. what made you decide to film it and take your travels to china? >> i grew up here in harlem. my mother was always very sad and very emotional about the fact that we really didn't have any other family. she was separated from her father when she was 3 years old. he had gone to jamaica to cut

sugar cane. and when he got there, he stayed and never really went back to china for some years. but my mother was conceived, born, and the rest of his family later on in life wasn't aware of her. my mother always wondered where her father was. i had been a trained journalist and historian, and all the above, decided there would come a day when i would retire, i retired from nbc universal, as an executive, and i decided it's time, i will spend the rest of my time searching. so we found them, 300 of my grandfather's descendants, gathered to meet 20 of us black chinese who went over to meet them, and what was so amazing was they didn't know that we even had existed, but a little story my mother had told me about her father let them know that i was truly a family member, otherwise, i couldn't have known the story. >> did it feel, paula, how you thought it would feel, to be there with these people whom you

had never met but whom you were related? >> it felt like a hole in my heart and soul had finally been closed. i grew up here in harlem. i am, without question, african-american, i am, without question, jamaican american. and i've always known that my grandfather was chinese. my mother, in fact, looked chinese. so being, you know, three kids in harlem, looking the way we looked with a mother who looked the way our mother looked, always prompted kind of surprise in people. and then what really was, for me, the fulfillment of this was, i just -- we just didn't have many relatives here. most of our relatives were in jamaica. my mother had flown here as a young woman when the chinese immigration quota was lifted. and we didn't have family. so now i found in china five of my elderly aunts and uncles who range in age from 96 to 84, i now go to china every six

months, i just came back last week, to hang out and see them and, frankly, i have about 40 first cousins, where we grew up with almost no relatives, and it's turned into an amazing relationship. one that because we are naturally entrepreneurs and it turns out so are they, we've actually formed a multinational family investment business, and we've already started cooperating and making money -- >> well, congratulations on that, that's great. >> thank you, thank you. >> is there something that stands out as being a big surprise about your journey? what's that? >> my husband, who also used to work here at nbc, he's from new orleans, where, you know, the whole issue of race and class as part of history is a fabric of the community. my husband looked at me at one point and said, paula, if you find these chinese relatives in your family, what do you want to happen? and i said, i don't know what you mean. he said, what are you looking

for? i said, i don't know what you mean. he said, do you know you're black? and i was, of course i know i'm black, i don't understand the question. what i realized is i, as a black person, had been raised by the face of a woman who loved me without question and her face was a chinese face. so i never anticipated -- my brothers, i asked them. none of us ever expected that we would not be accepted by our relatives should we ever find them. the marvel of it most of the chinese people i've talked to have told me our family is very special because we would not have necessarily been as embraced as we were, but my uncle brags to everyone who can come near him, my uncle joe, who's 87, and he says our family has great fortune, that we are special, and that there are now 320 of us los adding up the black chinese of us who have gone over, so that for me has been -- the part that was surprising was that anyone

thought that we might not be accepted. then i was more surprised, because i didn't even consider that. so i managed to grow up somehow in a household where my mother was so loved us and identified, if you asked her what are you, she'd identify with her children. in the days when we were colored, she said, i'm colored. in the days when we were black, she said, i'm black. and people would just kind of shudder and walk away and go, okay. my mother knew better, i think, than a lot of people did. she gave us the security of knowing that no matter what, she identified with her children. and if we're black, she's black. >> your mother sounds like a remarkable woman. it certainly passed down to the genes because i've admired your career from afar for a long, long time. good luck with the film. thank you so much for sharing it with us. >> thank you, alex. and there is a book coming out in february which is going to have a lot more detail. >> thank you. the california crodrought i

getting so bad that the state may implement more costly measures to get people to save water. how they honored the only survivor of a deadly attack next. live healthy and take one a day men's 50+. a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares. don't just visit new york visit tripadvisor new york with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better.

then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. [ crickets chirping ] but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath? [ exhales deeply ] [ male announcer ] well there is biotene. specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants, biotene can provide soothing relief

and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. [ applause ] biotene -- for people who suffer from dry mouth. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt" at 36 past the hour. the 15-year-old girl would survived being shot in the hot is out of the hospital today. she appears to be doing pretty well. just a short time ago, cassidy attended an emotional community event to honor her and the memory of her family. her four siblings and parents were gunned down this week. >> i would like to thank all the first responders, nurses and doctors that have taken care of me. i'm feeling a lot better and i'm on a very straight forward path to a full recovery. >> meantime, dramatic moments inside the texas courtroom as the man charged with killing cassidy's family passed out before the judge. a court appointed defense attorney says he has a history

of mental illness and was not fully aware of his actions. it's not yet been determined if he will be a candidate for the death penalty. developing now, a hamas-run tv station said a lot of missiles will be launched at tel aviv at the top of the hour. this is at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. it is being quoted by local israeli tv and al jazeera. israel's escalating its air assault against the gaza strip today. isra israel's military says it's struck more than 1,000 targets in gaza in the past four days. palestinians say they're responsible for more than 25 deaths. let me bring in nbc military analyst and retired army colonel jack jacobs. hamas has rockets that can reach every major population center in israel. what does that tell you about hamas' capabilities? >> they've been improving their capabilities. they can reach far into israel. indeed, they can go as far as

syria and jordan and into egypt. so they have much greater range. but they're also it's continue criminal nate. which is bad news and also good news. they can't be aimed very well. israel's response by and large has been actually quite measured. then use precision guided munitions. and they're using them to pretty good effect. the real question is how is this going to escalate which is almost assuredly is going to do. >> lots of folks have been on israel's iron dome defense system. the ap writes, iron dome quickly recognizes the trajectory of incoming rockets. those are shot down. while others are allows to fall on empty fields to spare the hefty cost of firing the sophisticated interceptors. do you think as a result of iron dome the situation has not escalated as much as it could have? >> i think it's a fair analysis to say that the discriminating nation of the iron dome system has kept the thing from

escalating much more than it otherwise would be. i mean, more of the of the stuff that's fired lands on -- harmlessly on the desert and less populated areas. the hardware and software extremely sophisticated developed by israel can determine exactly where it's going to hand and launches a strike on that oncoming missile. a way to keep things from escalating too much. >> as i know you've heard, six the spokesman for israel's prime minister says a ground invasion of gaza is on the table. so how much more might this conflict escalate? how much bigger could this get? >> if it goes to a ground invasion, that would escalate quite dramatically. it would probably be a bad idea for the israelis to do so. even though they've called up a fairly substantial number of reserves. the first is nobody wants to fight in gaza in the cities house to house.

you'd have to find objectives to attack. there would be lots of ancillary casualties. the second reason is the really disastrous attack by es rail into southern lebanon a few years ago that was a disaster, ki didn't achieve any of its objectives. i think they're disinclined to send ground troops into gaza which means maybe this is headed for the negotiation table. >> predictions, what do you think? >> we may be able to get to the negotiating table and put an end to it. >> colonel jacobs, thank you. back here in the united states, in the west coast, in california, a third of that state is now experiencing exceptional drought. and now the water shortage could hit people in their wallets. as this coming week, california's water control board will consider imposing fines on people who are caught wet handed wasting water. joining me now from "the new york times" is ian levitt who's

been covering the drought. it looks like some of the water conservation measures that california's a tempting, the number that jumped out at me, californians have only cut their water usage by about 5% or so. this seeming lack of action from people, what's behind it? >> that's right, a lex. well, californian, as you said, just have not done a ton so far to cut their water use. back in january when the governor declared the drought emergency, he asked everyone to cut their water use by 20%, but so far, accord to a state survey, they've only cut by 5%. in some cases, water use has gone up. part of the problem is in urban areas people don't necessarily see the drought. they don't see the dry reservoirs. they see lush green lawns and they see water flowing pretty cheaply from the tap. so the cities have struggled to get people to cut back. one thing they've done which has been at least a little effective

is they've basically encouraged residents to rat each other out for wasting water. they've set up hot lines where people can call and say things like, i see my neighbor washing his car, it's all running off into the street. in some places they've gotten a huge response. in sacramento where they've been very giaggressive at doing this they've already gotten 7,000 reports. and they've issued 2,000 citations. so that's one way cities are trying to hammer home the message that even if water is cheap for you, this is a big statewide problem and we all need to do our part to conserve. >> you talk about the phone calls but you also write about a trend of people calling each other out on social media for their use of water. there was, in fact, one tweeted a photo actually of a san francisco city worker washing the sidewalk with a hose. >> yeah, that's right, that's right. >> how wide spread is this chatter online? >> there's a decent amount of it. there was a lot of it particularly right when the drought was declared. it has continued.

twitter as you say is one of the most popular forums. people will post messages like my roommate's been in the shower 25 minutes and then #thedrought. they'll post pictures of people watering their lawns too much. but city employees wasting water is one of the most popular things for obvious reasons because people are having -- the city's hammering them, saying you need to conserve, and then the cities are not living up to this. so the goal is not necessarily to get the roommate or the neighbor or the city official who's wasting water to change their behavior, the goal is more to get people to follow them on twitter to see this and think about their own water use. for people worried about the doubt, the lack of public response has been frustrating. >> thank you so much for talking with us about it, i appreciate it. now partly because of water conservation and the drought, 66% of 360 water utility companies are losing money since 2010.

average water prices have risen 33%. president obama calls it a political stunt that's wasting time and hurting americans and that's next. leaves in the couch, she no longer smells it. yep, she's gone "noseblind" (sfx) we staged an intervention to help her sister break the news. sister: to the left... this is exactly what your house smell like. angela: for real? sister: yes. (both sisters laugh) angela: oh you are trippin'? really?! vo: febreze fabric refresher eliminates pet odors you've gone "noseblind" to.

sister: smells good! vo: one of many ways febreze helps you and your guests (inhale sound) breathe happy.

but they don't yet know we're a family. we're right where you need us. at the next job, next adventure or at the next exit helping you explore super destinations and do everything under the sun. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. so wherever you want to be, whatever you want to do, chances are we're already there. save up to 25% and earn bonus points when you book at wyndhamrewards.com. save up to 25% and earn bonus points that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve.. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if frustration and paperwork decrease... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things. let's close the gap between people and care.

sharp new reaction today from president obama responding directly to republicans moving forward with their lawsuit against him. >> the republican plan right now is not to do some of this work with me, instead, it's to sue me. that's actually what they're spending their time on. it's a political stunt that's going to waste months of american's time. they're going to pay for it using your hard earned tax dollars. >> joining me now is white house reporter for "the washington post," david mcnamara. i want to ask you a big picture question here. what is the top priority with a lot going on in washington on the border overseas. >> there's a number of crisis with iraq and of course what's happening with these children on the borders. if you hear what the president's talking about, sort of week to week on a consistent basis and when he goes outside washington

on some of these trips like he took last week to denver and then to texas, the message the white house is trying to get across is pocketbook issues, the economy, stressing the jobs added to the pay rolls. the lower jobless rate that's coming down and saying to americans we've done a lot of work, we need to keep that going. all of what congress is up to is a distraction. they're shutting down my agenda. i'm going to take these executive actions. ultimately, think the white house sees that as what americans want to talk about. >> what about the gop? concerned at all that all this lawsuit talk, talk of impeachment by some, may boomerang and hurt the party? >> there is fear about that. john boehner trying to walk a sensitive middle ground. you have folks who really want to take stronger actions. some have mentioned impeachment. john boehner does not seem to want to go that far. this is a step where they can challenge the president and say all this stuff the president is doing, he doesn't want to work with us, and put the onus on the

president. so they're doing this lawsuit. they've made it a fairly narrow focus. they said they've talked to legal experts and they're challenging what the president did in delaying the mandate for businesses to provide health care. still thinking health care is an interesting issue and a tough issue for the president, unpopular among republicans. so they're going to challenge him on that. i do think there is concern. i think the white house, you're seeing what the president is -- the president is happy to talk about this lawsuit and making fun of it. i think there's concern among republicans they'll overreach. >> how about everything we are seeing from republicans? do you think it is about all these maneuvers, about november at the ballot box? >> we're at that time right now where of course everything is at least partially about that. even with the situation on the borders, both sides acknowledge it is a humanitarian crisis. there's posturing going on about whether the republicans will approve the president's $3.7 billion emergency request to deal with that. yes, i think there's a lot going on obviously from republicans,

trying to find out what issues are really going to work best for them. there's a sense going into this election season, as republicans have, you know, some more of the energy. there's some fatigue about what the president's been unable tou do. but you're seeing the president obviously going on the road. he did some fundraising last week. he's going to be talking about the economy again on tuesday in northern virginia and do some fundraising in new york. so i think both sides are sort of eyeing that and testing out their messages, and everything has to be looked in that prism. >> david nakamura, thanks, david. it's taller than niagara falls. it's a water slide that you have to see to believe. we'll talk about the serious problems engineers faced making it happening. covergirl clump crusher. big green brush, curved to crush. load on the volume and the curve hugs your lashes tight, destroying every clump in its way. 200% more volume. zero clumps. so be fearless! and crush those clumps.

clump crusher from easy, breezy, beautiful, covergirl. take the challenge! from easy, breezy, beautiful, covergirl. c'mon, you want heartburn? when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast, with tums.

heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact. and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... tums!

it is time for your fast five headlines. it was a rare public appearance for cuba's fidel castro. he met with russian president vladimir putin for about an hour yesterday in cuba. it was the first stop of the russian leader's six-day tour of latin america. overseas, a powerful

earthquake struck today in japan. this happened near the power plant damaged in that tsunami three years ago. this quake set off a minor tsunami, but it didn't cause any damage. one person did suffer some minor injuries. back state side, the last original member of the ramons is dead. tommy ramone was the co-founder of the legendary punk band and surviving member. no word on cause of death. he was 62. tracy morgan and three others are suing wal-mart for last month's highway accident that claimed the life of one of morgan's fellow comedians. the suit claims the wal-mart driver was asleep at the wheel when the truck rammed into morgan's limousine in new jersey. wal-mart says with a statement that it is "committed to doing the right thing for all involved." and a lawyer for that woman repeatedly struck by a california highway patrolman says she's still in the hospital but no longer under mental evaluation. the woman is reportedly recovering from head injuries sustained in that july 1st incident. that patrolman is on desk duty as the investigation continues, and those are your fast five

headlines. more than 100 ohio residents were allowed to return to their homes early this morning after a firefighter put out a massive industrial blaze near dayton. this all happened at a metal finishing plant where numerous hazardous materials were stored. the cause of the fire has been labeled suspicious. and fire crews are working to contain a brush fire that has already burned more than 30 square miles in central washington. more than 400 homes have been evacuated. high temperatures and lightning strikes are a concern for firefighters this weekend. the cause of that fire, though, still under investigation. two wisconsin men used a novel idea to save a black bear with a milk can stuck on its head. they used a forwarder, that is used to lift wood, to remove the can, and to their surprise, it worked. he's running away happy. like thanks for getting that one off me. a new water slide opened this week in kansas city and it's reaching new heights. it is being billed as the world's tallest water slide. but the opening was delayed

several times because engineers had to give it a few tweaks. we're going to have more on this story tomorrow between noon and 2:00 p.m., so come take a ride on this. just let this play. t.j., you don't mind, do you? whoa! 18 seconds, folks. that's all it takes to ride that ride. you want to do it, don't you? i know i do. that wraps up "weekends with alex witt." we'll see you right back here tomorrow at noon eastern. up next, t.j. holmes. i'm alex witt. have yourselves a great day. not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts her at a greater risk of stroke. rome? sure! before xarelto®, mary took warfarin, which required monthly trips to get her blood tested. but that's history. back to the museum? not this time! now that her doctor switched her to once-a-day xarelto®, mary can leave those monthly trips behind. domestic flight? not today! like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day

prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require regular blood monitoring. so mary is free of that monitoring routine. for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. spinach? grazie! plus, with no known dietary restrictions, mary can eat the healthy foods she likes. don't stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. while taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding.

tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. switching to xarelto® was the right move for mary. ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. no regular blood monitoring; no known dietary restrictions. for information and savings options download the xarelto® patient center app, call 1-888-xarelto, or visit goxarelto.com the porter was so incredibly... careful... careless... with our bags. and the room they gave us -- it was... beautiful. a broom closet. but the best part but the worst part was the shower. my wife drying herself with the... egyptian cotton towels... shower curtain... defined that whole vacation for her. don't just visit new york. visit tripadvisor new york. [ male announcer ] with millions of reviews, a visit to tripadvisor makes any destination better.

deadly firefight in the middle east. the clashes between israelis and palestinians today are showing no signs of letting up. i'll be talking to a longtime middle east negotiator about what can be done to end the fighting. >> we intend to and we will send people back who come in to the rio grande valley sector

illegally. a new warning from homeland security secretary jeh johnson about the crisis on the u.s. border. in the last few months, more than 50,000 undocumented and unaccompanied children have entered this country. i'll be talking to a texas congresswoman who spent time on the border about the white house plan to stem the tide. also, a new fight for voters' rights. right now a push to block north carolina's new voter i.d. law. critics say it will keep african-americans and even young voters from the polls. talked to one attorney who's leading the charge. and enda. the employment nondiscrimination act. it's been making the rounds in congress for decades now. still hasn't been passed. some of the backers say they now want to pull their support. we'll talk to enda's early sponsor, former congressman barney frank. and the flipped classroom. a new teaching method is turning the traditional classroom on its head. that is today's big idea. good afternoon to you all. i'm t.j. holmes inay