two u.n. workers are among the latest casualties as israel prepares for a long campaign. but the palestinians propose a cease-fire, and the american-israeli relationship shows some signs of strain. >> the fighting continues despite diplomatic efforts. >> the perception is not just that kerry and the obama administration is taking the side of the palestinians but of the arab world in general over israel. >> obama and kerry, it says, are playing with fire. >> spend 29 years in the united states senate and had a 100% voting record pro-israel. i will not take a second seat to anybody in my friendship or my devotion to the protection of the state of israel. >> then i will speak to the north carolina mayor who marched 273 miles from his hometown in bell haven to bring the fight for medicaid expansion to washington, d.c.

and you're looking live at capitol hill where house democrats led there by nancy pelosi are set to speak about the humanitarian crisis at the border. we'll have a live report on that. but we start in the middle east where palestinian leaders are awaiting a response from israel to a multipronged humanitarian cease-fire offered up just hours ago. the offer of a three-stage truce came as smoke could still be seen over the gaza skyline. just this morning, the remnants of a stepped-up israeli assault that rained down into gaza overnight. the israeli army said it sent 76 missiles into palestinian territory after midnight this morning. according to palestinian health officials, at least 71 people were killed. u.n. officials confirm two staff members in gaza were among those victims. israel's targeted attacks crippled gaza's only power plant, darkening even more of the region that's been living under tightened power restrictions. the home of a top hamas leader, who had already evacuated the area, was also reduced to

rubble. the late-night strike came just hours after israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu warned of a prolonged campaign against hamas. at the same time, u.s. ambassador susan rice defended secretary john kerry's calls for a cease-fire, efforts that have angered the israeli people. >> he doesn't understand anything about the situation here. nothing. >> america's not a real partner for peace. he thinks he can make some agreement, he can write some nice words and some nice statement. come on. get real. >> today secretary kerry brushed off any personal criticism while reiterating his support for a diplomatic solution and underscoring his unwavering support for israel to defend itself. >> i'm not going to worry about personal attacks. i think that president obama has it right. and the international community has it right.

when we say that it is more appropriate to try to resolve the underlying issues at a negotiating table than to continue a tit-for-tat of violence and have greater violence. >> still as the conflict enters a fourth week with no permanent solution, palestinian officials say at least 1,156 people, mostly civilians, have died in gaza. at least 6700 have been wounded. the israeli army reports 53 soldiers and 3 civilians have also been killed. nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins me from gaza. ayman, we're talking about these terms that the palestinians have been proposing for a potential cease-fire. help us understand all the details there. >> well, the first step of that process would include a 24-hour

humanitarian cease-fire. now, the palestinian factions, particularly here inside gaza -- and there's always a little bit of discrepancy between hamas' leadership outside of gaza and internally here in gaza. but the leadership here inside gaza says that this is not a unilateral cease-fire, that this would have to be something israel agrees to brokered by or at least agreement by the egyptian intermediaries that have this proposal. the agreement would stipulate there's a 24-hour cease-fire after which that cease-fire could be extended into what they're calling a rolling cease-fire, which could be then renewed at a 72-hour interval. in that process, there would be no violations of the cease-fire, but it would ultimately have to culminate with a negotiated settlement addressing the fundamental issues that palestinian factions have grievances with. that includes lifting the siege off of gaza and obviously for israel, the security needs of israel to try and disarm palestinian factions, destroy the tunnels, and ensure that there are no more rocket attacks

on to israel. that's a wide gap between the two sides. the first and immediate concern according to palestinian sources, both in the west bank and here in gaza, is that there would be this 24-hour cease-fire in place. right now the factions are waiting for a response through egypt from the israeli side. krystal? >> all right. nbc's ayman mohyeldin on the ground in gaza. i'd like to bring in a middle east negotiator who served for both republican and democratic secretaries of state. also with us, steve clemens, an msnbc contributor and washington editor at large at "the atlantic." thank you, both, so much for joining us. aaron, i wanted to start with you first. do you think that this latest offer from the palestinians represents in any way real progress towards the eventual resolution of this immediate crisis? >> well, here's the reality. the reason this has gone on for three weeks is that there's simply insufficient urgency on

the part of the two major combatants to bring it to an end. both have invested enormous amounts in this conflict. both have expectations, frankly, that probably aren't realistic. and in order to bridge those in the middle of a conflict that seems to bring a new horror, a new killing, a new death every day, combined with israeli and palestinian publics who have an emotional -- and in the case of others, a fundamental stake in this matter, the reality is i think that they're not done. the israelis have more they want to accomplish, to be fundamentally weaken hamas. hamas may well believe that it's winning. they've killed three or four times the number of idf soldiers that in the two previous confrontations. they've clearly gained the sympathy of much of the international community. and they're perceived to be a

sort of equal combatant in whatever emerges as a solution. so i don't think we're done yet. >> wow. that's a pretty dramatic statement to say hamas may think that they are winning this conflict given the asymmetry of the casualties here. steve, i wonder what you make of that. obviously, both sides still seem very far apart. as aaron is rightly pointing out, both seem to still have a stake in continuing this conflict and don't seem susceptible at all to any international pressure. >> well, i think aaron gets it exactly right. we've been saying for some time that hamas had a lot of reasons for wanting to have this conflict. it is achieving one of its goals, which is to re-emerge in the eyes of many palestinians and arabs around the world as, you know, an obstinant force.

it was having a bit of an identity crisis as peace talks fell. hamas doesn't have an interest in things stabilizing right now. as we've seen from netanyahu, he seems very committed to really trying to do all he can to break the back of hamas. and by doing that, he's, in fact, in a way restoring them. so it's a knot that keeps g getting tighter and tighter. >> aaron, i wonder what you make of all the quite vehement opposition and criticism of secretary of state john kerry, really from all sides of the political spectrum. in israel, from one of israel's newspapers, it's written, if kerry did anything on friday, it was to thwart the possibility of reaching a cease-fire in gaza instead of promoting a cease-fire kerry pushed it away. if this failed diplomatic attempt leads israel to escalate its operation in gaza, the american secretary of state will be one of those responsible for

every additional drop of blood that is spilled. really harsh criticism there. >> i have to tell you, i was around for jim baker, and those were not pretty days. there were enormous amounts of criticism, not only by the pro-israeli community in the united states, but also the israeli prime minister. but these accusations, frankly, particularly kerry's culpability for the extension of the violence and the blood that's been spilled, frankly they are incredibly over the top. here's what john kerry's responsible for. number one, perhaps not understanding that what woody allen said, that 80% of life is just showing up. woody allen's wrong. 80% of success in life is showing up at the right time. there was absolutely no way over the last two weeks that john kerry could have negotiated anything. that's number one. so i think he missed the sense -- and you have to understand. when you're secretary of state or one of his advisers, you see

this going on. you want to get into the middle of the mix. frankly, his hot mic comments a week or so ago reflected the fact that he wanted to be in the middle of the mix. the problem was there was no deal there. that's number one. number two, i don't think the issue is that kerry is pushing a settlement that will somehow stop this from reoccurring. the problem the israelis have is this. that what he has done perhaps inadvertently is to create a symmetry between the government of israel, a staunch american ally, and the islamic resistance movement hamas, which according to american statute in law is a terrorist organization. he's somehow inadvertently in his nonpaper that he submitted to the prime minister, which was then presumably leaked to a cabinet only too ready to hammer him, sensed that the americans regard each party's positions as

legitimate, necessary, and that we have to find a balance somewhere right in the middle. and the reality is john kerry knows this as well as anybody. the united states is not an honest broker. we can be an effective broker, but we're not an honest broker. we have a very close, i would argue deservedly so, relationship with the state of israel, and that skews the way we're going to behave in any circumstance. that, i think s the issue. >> and steve, the obama administration has had a pretty tough relationship with b.b. netanyahu. he all but endorsed mitt romney. he's a former gop political operative, which probably doesn't help things. so these two administrations have had a bit of a tough time working together anyway. >> well, they've had a tough time, but i have to give a lot of credit to the obama administration, because b.b. netanyahu's antics even runs against -- trying to animate an effort to beat obama in american

domestic politics. the white house on the whole has shown itself to be quite gentlemanly in a very strained relationship. that said, agreeing with aaron, john kerry's job here was to stop the bloodshed. that's what the international community is calling for. israel has negotiated behind the scenes countless times with hamas. there was, in fact, a long period of truce going on. and when you look at the concerns that many of us have about hamas, should they not work this out, there are many worse groups sitting behind hamas that could come on down the road that you can't negotiate with. there's been a lot of criticism of secretary of kerry for reaching out to turkey and qa r qatar, both of whom have nations that still have strong communications with hamas. that's exactly the right thing to do. the white house was trying to basically reach people that could negotiate with that. and i don't feel that's legit mating hamas. that's trying to get both sides

to realize this is a horrific abyss they're sitting on the edge of and have to stop. >> indeed. aaron david miller and steve clemens, thank you both. now a reid alert on the latest on russia and ukraine. the white house has an announcement that additional sanctions against russia could come as early as today. that comes as european leaders announce sweeping sanctions of their own on the heels of a u.s. intelligence report that says russia is vieltding a landmark arms control treaty that's been in place since 1987 and was signed under ronald reagan. ukraine military forces are ramping up their assault on pro-russian separatists in the east. two senior u.s. officials say the ukrainian military fired at least three short-range ballistic missiles into the separatist area just yesterday. the targets were not far from the site of that mh-17 crash. one of the officials also says russia continues to reinforce their troops along the border with ukraine. it is a busy day on the hill. and right now house democrats

are holding a news conference on the border crisis. they're there with children from honduras and guatemala. wooe we'll have more on that after the break, including what action, if any, congress may take on immigration reform before the upcoming august break. then, north carolina republican mayor adam o'neil on why he walked 273 miles from his hometown all the way to the capitol. so factors like diet can negatively impact good bacteria? even if you're healthy and active. phillips digestive health support is a duo-probiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract. i'm doubly impressed! phillips' digestive health. a daily probiotic. (vo) ours is a world of the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting... ...for a safe arrival.

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they're to blame for having more troops on the border. they're to blame for every communicable disease that ever existed on the face of the earth. they're to blame for the divisions that have been racking this nation for decades regarding the issue of

immigration and race. i think that's a lot to put on their little shoulders. it's time that congress kind of assumed the responsibility for this impasse we have on immigration reform, assume the responsibility that these laws are in place to protect people. >> that was arizona congressman raul moments ago speaking before a hearing on the border crisis, telling congress to stop blaming the unaccompanied kids for the nation's problems. it's a crisis that congress has fewer than three days to tackle before summer recess starts at the end of their workday on thursday. with house republican leadership presenting the details of their border bill to party colleagues earlier today, it falls well short of $3.7 billion the president initially asked for. speaker boehner telling reporters after that meeting that he expects a vote on the bill to come thursday, but that there is still more work to be done. >> i think there's sufficient

support in the house to move this bill. we have more work to do, though. >> and he appears to have a lot of work with even some in his own party. here is iowa's steve king criticizing the republican bill just after that conference meeting today. >> there's nothing in here that cuts off the funding to enforcing daca. if we don't make that statement and the president opens up 5 million people to a similar policy, we have essentially given him, i'll say, the violent treatment and given him a permission slip himself to do that to the destruction of the rule of law and the united states constitution. >> are you going to vote against this? >> at this point, yes. >> to help us understand where everything stands, we have nbc's kelly o'donnell joining us live from capitol hill. kelly, help us understand, does it look like republicans will be able to pass some sort of bill out of the house before the august recess? >> well, people most responsible for getting it across the finish line indicate they think they can get at least their piece done. but there's plenty of caution lights. it's only tuesday.

thursday in legislative terms it s a light year away. so they're taking it slowly. when you have criticism from some of the most conservative members like steve king, in some ways that's to be expected. in terms of negotiating on where the money would ultimately sett settle, of course the white house reached big for a number, knowing it would be pared back by the house. steve king referenced daca, which is that 2008 law. it's deferred action on childhood arrivals, which gives different treatment to children who've come from countries other than mexico. there's a lot being talked about with that. there are many in congress who believe this emergency funding is not the place to have a policy argument, but then there are others who say, perhaps, that law had an unintended consequence of encouraging more of these children to cross. so many complicated issues behind that. and there is a real debate about what should be done. that law was really about trying to help children who might have been victimized by traffickers.

some of that may be at play here. but there are now concerns from this moment and the circumstance and how best to deal with it. so if the house is able to get something across that finish line, doesn't mean the senate is going to get it done, doesn't mean it's going to get to the president, but it would give house republicans the chance to say they got something accomplished before leaving for five weeks. so this is a mix of things, krystal. it's political cover. it's a real emergency issue. there are real policy debates. you put all of that into the final week before a big recess, hard to predict which way it will ultimately go. >> yeah, it looks like it would give them some cover, as you're pointing out, unlikely that the republicans in the house and the democrats in the senate would be able to come together on something before the august recess. but democrats also in a bit of a tough position in the house. if this bill does come to the floor roughly with the outline that john boehner is talking about, do you expect democrats in the house to also go along with it in significant numbers?

>> well, one of the things that's interesting is as we talked about, the 2008 law, many democrats don't want to see that changed in this sort of hurried way and not having that as a part of the bill is actually perhaps an inducement to democrats. it also giving democrats a way to at least get some money toward this problem and then knowing that a democrat-controlled senate f it were to take up this action or another, might make additional changes. for some ways for democrats, especially those in border states, but those democrats who have been vocal about this, it is a step forward. they can also argue it doesn't do enough, and that's a reason to not vote for it. but you'll probably see some democrats vote with this. the most conservative bloc of republicans could be expected not to go for it. but boehner cautious and others who are sort of counting the votes and looking at the landscape think they can get enough. in part, sometimes the pressure of what a thursday leading into august can do.

sometimes that can change people's state of mind when they're also looking at a boarding pass for the flight home. >> indeed. and in looking forward a bit towards the end of the summer, the president has signaled he's looking to do more with his executive power. perhaps something along the lines of that daca action you referred to. but perhaps for the families of children who were impacted by the daca action or perhaps even for those folks who would have been involved in the senate -- comprehensive immigration reform that passed there, had that also passed the house. how are vulnerable red state democrats viewing the potential for a larger executive action coming at the end of the summer right as the heat of midterm election season really cranks up? >> and all of this, krystal, has to be viewed through the heat of those midterm elections. in those red states, this is an issue that is very animating for voters. and certainly conservatives can

rail about the president using executive authority. some democrats feel strongly he should use it to the fullest extent of what he can to deal with the problem. but it doesn't deal with enough of the problem according to many democrats who think they've got to have a comprehensive approach that deals with the much bigger issues. so it is a difficult thing. now, certainly having some action for democrats can be helpful. it can also be used against them in those races. so we're at a point where there's so many layers to this issue, it's not just about helping the children who are in an urgent state and need that help but also all of the sort of tribute te tri bu tears of political landscape that have to be factored in. and november is sooner than anyone thinks. it feels quick if you're a member of the congress on the ballot. >> indeed. nbc's kelly o'donnell. thank you as always. now, three things to know this tuesday. the condition of an american doctor who contracted ebola in liberia has become, quote, very

serious. a spokeswoman says he is fighting for his life. meantime, health workers are tracing who came in contact with a man with family in minnesota who died from ebola on friday. patrick sauer flew from liberia to ghana, finally arriving in nigeria where he then collapsed. sawyer was planning to visit his wife and children in minnesota in mid-august. detroit's mayor is now running the city's water department. you'll recall there was massive criticism after the water company shut off service to some 7200 delinquent customers. and a whale-watching boat docked safely in boston this morning after it got snagged by a lobster trap yet while out at sea. 157 passengers were stuck overnight on that boat until divers managed to free it early this morning. >> we got divers come. we got tug boats. but they couldn't even get it cut. so we had to sleep overnight

there. and this morning we got the better divers with all the bigger tools and that stuff. and they sawed the rope off. we're back here now. 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.

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anything. welcome back. and you are looking there at a live shot of the white house. we are expecting president obama to come out and make a statement on ukraine that will be at 2:50 eastern time. we'll bring it to you live when it happens. now it is time for we the tweeple. and today's social media sensation is a mysterious figure that you are calling the woman in black. you're tweeting about her trip across several southern states to a hash tag with that name and a facebook page also with over 30,000 likes contains theories unconfirmed by nbc about her identity. perhaps she's an army vet or grieving or maybe in need of care. in towns along the way, strangers offer seemingly

unwelcome help. >> this lady is running after her. she won't take anything from her. she wouldn't take anything from her. there's two people that tried to offer her water. she won't take it. >> still, you are sending supportive tweets like this. quote, i'm an atheist, so i won't pray, but i do hope that woman in black finds peace in her journey. and now to a controversy. did you hear about that time a social site experimented on its users and then blogged about it? no, i am not talking about facebook. in a blog post yesterday, the president of okcupid shared that the company intentionally matched incombatable people just to see what would happen. guess what? rates of communication actually doubled. some of you were tweeting your great displeasure and feeling very used. this person said, quote, from facebook to okcupid, tech

platforms should just rename terms of service as terms of manipulation. the company defended itself in a statement that reads in part, quote, well over a million people have logged into okcupid since we posted about the experiment. we've had less than ten complaints. users were notified at the experiment's conclusion, and this type of diagnostic experiment is permitted by our terms of service. little creepy, perhaps. join the conversation with fellow reiders on twitter, facebook, instagram, and msnbc.com. and keep telling us what is important to you. and now this news. donald sterling loses his battle over the clippers. here's the latest in the fight over ownership. >> this whole thing was a plan against my client by his wife, his wife's attorneys and the nba. >> the trust agreement provides that if two qualified physicians certify that he's mentally incapacitated, he's removed. my mother made the best toffee in the world.

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you are looking live there at the white house where president obama is expected to make a statement to reporters on russia and ukraine. that will at 2:50 p.m. eastern time. itme mencomes as the white hous set to announce more sanctions against russia. but now, 98 days until the midterm elections, and the biggest question these days isn't who will win control of congress but who will turn out to vote. it's actually a big problem for democrats who tend to cast ballots in smaller numbers in midterm elections. so this week they are rolling out their secret weapon to rev up the base. >> when it comes to the midterm elections this november, we need you to be as passionate and as hungry as you were back in 2008 and 2012. in fact, you need to be even more passionate and more hungry to get democrats elected to

congress. >> the first lady's pitch comes as national turnout hits record lows. 15 of the 25 states which held statewide primaries for both parties saw participation drop 18% from the last midterm election back in 2010. partly thanks to new voting laws in 22 states, the percentage of eligible voters has fallen nearly 30% for democrats and 14% for republicans since 2010. that's making work a whole lot harder for groups like rock the vote, who are tasked with getting america's biggest voting bloc, 86 million millennials, to the polls. our own joy reid recently sat down with the president of rock the vote to talk about those challenges. >> you guys are doing voter registration and have done for a very long time. this year you're doing it in the context of 22 states with these voter i.d. laws, these restrictive laws that will go into effect before the 2014 midterms. i want to give you a taste of them. you've got in north carolina a law that strips away same-day

voter registration and preregistration for 16 and 17-year-olds. you've got proof of citizenship laws in kansas and arizona that block community registration efforts because people don't carry their proof of citizenship with them on the streets. that makes it difficult. you've got the texas law where you can use your handgun license but not your student i.d. you have florida laws that restrict locations where people can do early voting, et cetera. tennessee. it goes on and on. how do you do what rock the vote has done for so long in the face of these new restrictions? >> i mean, it is a challenge for sure. one of the biggest things this year is to make sure young people feel inspired to participate and empowered to get out there and vote. registration has always been a barrier for enindustry for young people. and the states that are making it more difficult are not helping our efforts. but i think that what we're trying to do is both raise awareness about the restrictions that are being placed and tell people, you know, you need to participate, you need to turn

out and show that you want to have your voice heard and that you're not going to stand for these laws that are being passed to make it more difficult for you to do that. and also, a huge part of our campaign is education, making sure people understand exactly what the rules are now and what they need in order to participate. >> how do you do that? because you see a rise in cynicism in a lot of young people. people did turn out in 2008. didn't see instant change. i think people sometimes don't understand how messy the legislative process is. then you look at midterms. you look at the percentage of young people aged 18 to 29 who actually show up not in election year but in a midterm. only 23% in 2006. barely better than that, 24% in 2010. how do you convince young people it is worth participating in the process? >> i mean, i think just to be clear, it's a problem with all age groups. participation across the board is lower in midterms. i think that there's this notion out there right now that young people don't care, that they're disengaged, and they don't want to be heard when it's actually

quite the opposite. you know, we are this millennial generation that wants to have our voice heard on a number of things. we show that every day through social media and online participation. this year, i think, it's really about making sure that we are empowering young people to understand what impact they can have on the process. i mean, one thing that we are talking a lot about is the fact that just by sheer volume, millennials could have a huge impact. it is the largest generation in american history. there are more millennials in the country than baby boomers. it is the most diverse with 43% of the youth generation being nonwhite. we really need to all show up and express the power that we have. >> well, and yet, ashley, when you actually look at the raw data, the institute of politics did a survey and found that less than -- fewer than one in four millennials plan to actually vote in the midterm elections in november. and they were asked why.

you had a response from one person who said they're not voting in the midterms. you had people say, i don't live in a state where i'm registered to vote or i'm not familiar with the candidates i'd be voting for or against. don't know where the voting places are. what you don't hear in there is that the issues are what's driving them away or cynicism about the process in washington. so if it really is mechanical and people aren't voting, young people aren't voting because of the mechanics, how do you reverse that? >> you know, i think it's both, actually. i do think there is a feeling -- and that poll showed this too. that young people aren't affiliating with a political party. they really do care about issues. the partisan bickering going on in washington and across the states right now is not interesting to them. and on top of that, you know, a barrier to entry, which is the case across the board in the midterm elections, people are spending less money trying to engage people, particularly young people. you're not hearing a lot of conversation about issues that

matter to young people. i think as a result of that, people aren't as motivated to figure out the process. >> you've talked about issues several times. what are those issues? what are the issues that are the most important to millennials in terms of what rock the vote has been able to discern? >> yeah, i mean, young people care very much about higher education and student loan debt. they are interested in the environment, immigration, women's health. i think there's a whole host of issues, but there is less interest in talking about them from a partisan standpoint or from a process standpoint. >> all right. ashley, thank you very much. >> thank you for having us. >> nice interview there from joy. we are looking live at the white house where any minute now president obama will make a statement on the situation in ukraine with russia. we will bring that to you live. ♪

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white house where shortly president obama will make a statement on the situation in ukraine with russia. we'll bring that to you live when it happens. one north carolina mayor is right now, though, getting a lot of attention for his bold trek to protest his state's refusal to expand medicaid. bell haven mayor adam o'neil, a republican, just completed a two-week, 273-mile march to washington yesterday. a journey he set out on after his rural town's only hospital closed. he says the closure is a result of corporate interests and the republican-controlled state legislature, which refused to expand medicaid under the affordable care act. an expansion would have helped pay the bills of the many lower-income residents who relied on that hospital. but north carolina is far from the only state that is facing this problem. so far only 26 states and the district of columbia have accepted the medicaid expansion, leaving a lot of hospitals at

risk of closing, in particular in rural areas. in fact, according to the rural health association, since last year 22 rural hospitals have, in fact, closed and 20 of them were in states that blocked the medicaid expansion. mayor o'neil says he hopes his journey will bring a spotlight to the issue of medicaid and the millions of americans who are still left without health insurance. joining me now, bell haven mayor, adam o'neil. thank you so much for being with us, sir. >> glad to be with you. >> i understand you just left a meeting with the department of health and human services with more than a dozen obama administration officials. tell us how that meeting went, and is there anything that they can do to help either with medicaid expansion or with reopening the hospital in your area? >> well, they pointed out as well that medicaid expansion is a big deal in north carolina. our state's health care system is out $10.9 million a day due to north carolina not accepting

medicaid expansion. the hhs personnel along with other agencies that were at our meeting have pledged to do all they can to make sure that bell haven gets a fair review and an investigation that will ensure justice. >> and mayor o'neil, tell us what it was specifically that motivated you to embark on this long journey, 273 miles, to call attention to the plight of your hospital. >> well, one of the first things was we have a nonprofit, a nonprofit that has $550 million of reserves. they made $129 million in 2012. they made $129 million in 2013. and they closed a critical access hospital that lost less than half of what they pay their ceo, one man.

four days after they shut our hospital, a lady, wife, and mother of three died waiting on emergency services because our emergency room had been closed. that motivated us to walk to washington, d.c. i don't believe the united states of america we're going to allow a nonprofit, a charitable organization, to have $550 million in reserves, make $109 million in a year and close a critical access hospital. i think there needs to be a law against that, and i'm hoping the congressman and senator i've spoken to are going to start trying to do something about that. >> well, and it says a lot that you're already seeing the human impact of that closure. you've tied that closure to the failure of north carolina to expand medicaid. i wanted to read a statement from a spokeswoman for the north carolina department of health and human services about why they don't think they should go forward with medicaid expansion at this point. she says, the medicaid budget must first be stabilized.

once we fix the current system, north carolina can then consider expanding medicaid eligibility. what's your response to that? >> i don't think the state receiving an extra $10.9 million a day into our health care system is going to hurt anything. so i think we need to start accepting medicaid expansion as soon as possible to get these extra dollars into our system to make sure these rural hospitals that struggle every year to break even, make sure they survive. we need this now. we don't need it after more hospitals close. >> and mayor, of course, it's republicans in your state who are standing in the way of medicaid expansion. has that made you rethink your party affiliation? >> no, not at all. i agree with republicans 90% of the time. uh but i'm a person that puts people before politics. i don't see an argument against expanding medicaid expansion. i'm not going to stand with folks that are denies $10.9 million a day to our health care system, which is the health of our people. >> yeah, indeed. well, we all appreciate you

having the courage to speak out even though it may be inconvenient for your party. mayor adam o'neil, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and any minute now, president obama will make a statement on the situation with russia and ukraine. stay with msnbc for live coverage ahead. this is kathleen. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain...

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welcome back to "the reid report" and to a new edition of two can play that game. first up, hobby lobby christians meet the satanic temple. as you'll likely recall, christian craft store hobby lobby successfully sued, claiming they have a sincerely held religious belief in the sinfulness of birth control and should therefore be exempt from the obamacare birth control requirement. well, two can play that game. this group, the satanic temple, is claiming that their sincerely held religious beliefs should exempt them from certain

abortion restrictions. in making their case, they cite, what else, the hobby lobby ruling. turns out christians are not the only one with sincerely held beliefs. up next, bringing new meaning to the phrase open carry. in texas, gun rights activists have been exercising their right to open carry their firearm and to openly terrify moms shopping at target. well, two can play that game. these ladies have been following the open carry group while exercising their legal right to open carry a different kind of weapon, their boobs to be specific. they did so while holding signs that read "boobs for peace," and "you realize that everyone thinks you're overcompensating for your teeny tiny gun, right?" come and take it texas responded as any mature adult would, by calling the women skanky and making sophomoric jokes about their boobs. and finally, anti-feminist cats. i love the internet.

recently an anti-feminist tumblr created a stir when scores of women posted photos with signs explaining the reasons they don't knee feminism, like this one, proclaiming, i'm anti-feminist, proequality. wait, what? you do know that feminism is all about equality. like, that's little rally the whole deal. these women mostly posted proof they don't know what feminism is. well, two can play that game. meet the confused cats against feminism. these cats don't need feminism for a variety of reasons. this one, for example, is sure that feminism has something to do with his lack of tuna. and these cats don't need your stinking equal pay for equal work. though, most of all, they don't understand what feminism is because they're cats. that does it for this edition of two can play that game. see you next time, but until then, remember what's good for the goose is good for the gander, or for the anti-feminist cat.

also wraps things up for "the reid report." i'm krystal ball. we'll see you back here at 2:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. be sure to visit us online. "the cycle" is next with live coverage of president obama's statement on the situation with russia and ukraine. e ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort. the summer of this.mmer. would i lie about 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. then boom...

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area held by the pro-russian separatists. meanwhile, u.s. officials say that ukrainians also fired ballistic missiles at another part of eastern ukraine, again aimed at those pro-russian rebels. the investigators whose job it is to try to establish what happened to mh-17 have not been able to get to that investigative site because of the fighting. at the same time, clearly the president is likely to want to say and to point out that in the u.s. view, russia has fomented this crisis. but the fighting that we're hearing just in the last few minutes just goes to underline how complex the situation is here. >> keir simmons, thank you very much for that. as we wait for the president, let's get to nbc's chris jansing, who's at the white house. >> we're learning he's going to talk about