11:00. >> and watch a liverpool game. >> yes. if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." but stick around, because peter alexander has "the daily rundown" straight ahead. president obama trying to rally international help as the u.s. sends more resources to the region and the vice president declares they'll be chased to the gates of hell. meantime, vladimir putin puts out his plan to stop the fighting if ukraine, but will the west let russia dictate terms to end the crisis that russia itself helped to instigate? plus, new developments in the fight to control the senate. highlights and low blows from last night's carolina clash. as well as a surprise turn in kansas that has one roughed up republican crying foul. good morning from washington. it is thursday, september 4th, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." i'm peter alexander. we have the latest on the

justice department's plans to investigate the police in ferguson, missouri. we will also go live to one of the dozens of walkouts and protests happening as we speak by fast-food workers fighting for better pay. but we begin right now oversea with the most consequential nato summit in a generation under way in wales. president obama is right in the middle of it. he said on wednesday that nato is a key piece of the international community's security. the president and british prime minister david cameron met this morning after posting a joint op-ed in the "times of london," insisting world leaders would stand together. they wrote, "if terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats, they could not be more wrong." the warning was a call to arms from the two western leaders. >> in the heart of iraq, we've actually got a terrorist organization running a potential state with all the resources and

money that involves. so look, we have to take a long-term, tough, intelligent, patient view of this. >> i do believe the international community as a whole has an obligation to stop the islamic state from advancing further. >> secretary of state john kerry has begun the work of building that international coalition. speaking to his counterparts from australia, jordan, qatar, and the eau, as well as reaching out to benjamin netanyahu and top officials in italy and saudi arabia.uae, as well as reaching out to benjamin netanyahu and top officials in italy and saudi arabia. chuck hagel and lisa monaco will also head to the region in the coming days. in the meantime, the obama administration continues to preach patience. >> we've got to look before we leap. we tried the opposite about a decade ago and that didn't help us very much in the middle east. so we're being very deliberate

about putting together a coalition of countries to deal with the isis problem. >> nevertheless, the pressure to act is only increasing after the beheading of american journalist steven sotloff. on wednesday, sotloff's family delivered its first public message since steven's death. >> today we grieve. this week, we mourn. but we will emerge from this ordeal. our village is strong. we will not allow our enemies to hold us hostage with fear. >> joe biden channelled some of the public sentiment with a fiery speech. here's part of what he said. >> as a nation, we're united, and when people harm americans, we don't retreat. we don't forget. we take care of those who are grieving, and when that's finished, they should know we will follow them to the gates of

hell until they are brought to justice. because hell is where they will reside. hell is where they will reside. [ applause ] >> and of course, isis is not the only issue on nato's agenda. president obama met with ukrainian president petro poroshenko this morning and is taking part in a session focused on afghanistan as well. a lot on their plate this week. nbc senior white house correspondent chris jansing is traveling with the president, and has more from great britain. chris, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, peter. it has been a busy morning already, and pressure is building here to do something about isis. one of the first things we heard from the secretary-general this morning is that isis poses an imminent threat, an immediate threat to all nato members' security. so we saw a meeting already this morning between president obama and british prime minister david cameron. you mentioned that op-ed that they penned together in the "times of london," saying among

other things, we will not be cowed by baric ki barbaric kill. the u.s. has already said there are no boots on the ground, but they have not ruled out the possibility of air strikes in syria, much after the way we have been seeing in iraq. in addition to that, john kerry meeting -- he is working to bring that coalition together that the president talked about yesterday. that would include more aid from nato members, both militarily and in terms of humanitarian aid. new developments as well this morning about vladimir putin. there has been word from ukrainian president petro poroshenko, who is here even though his country is not a full nato member. saying that should a meeting go forward in minsk, that they are talking about, there is the possibility of a cease-fire starting tomorrow. but again, we heard some skepticism here from the secretary-general who says vladimir putin talks a good game. let's see what kind of action

happens. what's happening right now is that all the nato members are together for a meeting that is focused on ukrainian security. one of the things they hope to accomplish here is a rapid deployment force, about 4,000 members that could respond in 48 hours or less in case one of the nato members is threatened. so we really do have a situation where after many years of people suggesting that nato's time perhaps had come and gone, where we have so much going on in the world, that in fact one of the arguments that was made this morning again by the secretary-general here, peter, is that nato is not a cold war relic. >> chris jansing traveling with the president in wales. chris, we appreciate your reporting very much. joining us now at the table, the deputy director with the council of foreign relations. the senior correspondent for bloomberg news, specializing in u.s. foreign policy. and eamon in new york.

give me a sense of how effective nato can be against isis and what its real role could be here? >> look, this is something that the president has been talking about. he's been talking about how the u.s. troop presence already this week, we saw 350 additional u.s. troops who were sent to baghdad to help support the u.s. mission there. we've got over 124 strikes that the u.s. has already done. and we're talking about now more than 1,100 u.s. troops on the ground helping. so i think what we're talking about is we have david cameron and barack obama together discuss how they're not going to allow themselves to be cowed by isis. what they're going to do beyond the strikes at the mosul dam remains to be seen, and i think that's where john kerry's rallying regional allies throughout the middle east is really key. >> and eamon, the point that she brings up is an important one. the uae is ready to confront the isis threat.

it's clear that regional partners will be critical to this effort. can the u.s. count on them to sign on and ultimately can the u.s. have faith that there is a diplomatic solution at the end of the day that can even resolve this problem in places like not just iraq, but also syria? can you get a new inclusive government? >> they definitely have to try and build that coalition, but they also have to get from that coalition not simply lip service th . you have to see some support to the u.s., whether it's cutting down the financial roots to supporting isis. if it's stopping people from traveling to turkey to join the fight and trying to root out the ideology there. there are several resources that some of these arab countries have that the united states doesn't have to try and curb the rise of isis. but you're absolutely right. at the end of the day, you can contain isis, you can destroy its leadership, its infrastructure, but you also then have to put in place inside syria and inside iraq political

systems that work, that represent -- that give people a chance to flourish, so that they aren't drawn to this ideology, not drawn to this extremism and barbarism. >> gale, isis has received attention for its barbaric beheadings, execution of captured soldiers and men. but there's been so much less focus on isis's treatment of women, which is one issue i also wanted to raise. to the men of isis, the women are viewed as an inferior race, as today describe it, to be enjoyed for sex and discarded, or sold off as slaves. are we only getting the tip of the iceberg in terms of the atrocities that are being committed there? tell us -- give us a better understanding about the way women are being treated in that region by isis. >> i mean, i think that women have received as much barbarity as men, if not more. forced marriage, marriage at the point of a gun. and i use that term "marriage" very loosely. there is a lot of discussion about reports of rape, reports of gang rape, reports of what's

happening to girls. girls being separated from their families. but let's also not forget the young men who are either being brutally assassinated or forced on to the front lines. and all of this i think raises a very serious question. there's always been a question about mismatch of ambitions between isis and folks who are really all in versus the international community, which has also felt it would have to be dragged in to this conflict to actually really get involved. i think we're reaching this point where the question of exactly how much barbarity we'll have to see before the world acts is a question that's on the table right now before nato. >> i want to talk about ukraine if i can very quickly with some new reports for the potential of a cease-fire there. russia has basically said we're not a party to this so we're not involved in it. they're still playing games in the eyes of many people right now. andrea, i pose that question to you. what are you focused on as you pay attention to the conversations taking place in

nato? we were talking about france finally announcing it will stop providing russia with the helicopter carriers. this is key because the u.s. was sort of out in front of its european allies in terms of sanctions and this is another example of one that could be significant. >> i think you're right. the eu would argue that they've done more in some sanctions, while the u.s. has done more in others. but this deal, which for france was putting $1.6 billion in their pocket for the sale of these two helicopter carriers to russia, was a very big point of contention. the u.s., britain, and everyone else wanted them to suspend it. the fact that they said yesterday that at the moment they are going to suspend delivery, even while their russian sailors in france right now training on one of these helicopter carriers is amazing and i think it sets the stage that new sanctions are coming. we even had the italian prime minister talking about new sanction needed for russia. the italians have really been dragged kicking and screaming to the table on this. they've been sort of leading the group in the eu that has said wait, let's try to slow down.

you mentioned this petro poroshenko cease-fire arrangement. i think that is really key. who is going to sign on behalf of the rebels? if russia says we're not party to it, then how are we going to enforce this cease-fire? >> it's one of the real challenges they face right now. ayman, i guess the question is what happens if they seize it? if the land grab gets wider and wider. the president said the u.s. will stand and act in support of any nato ally, ukraine potentially becoming a nato ally right now. how far does the u.s. go? >> that's a very important strategic question. when i was in kiev and other parts of ukraine throughout the course of the last several months, one of the things that ukrainian diplomats would say to me is right now russia wants eastern ukraine more than the west wants all of ukraine. so we're seeing this unfold on the ground new mexico that balance shift where is the u.s. and nato and others really want ukraine just as much as russia wants the eastern part of the country.

so you're talking about mariopol. certainly brings crimea closer to russia and giving them that land corridor. that's going to be extremely challenging for the west to wrestle that part away back from the hands of russia and its separatist allies on if ground. >> gale, can i conclude with you with one other topic that was intended to be the primary focus, which is afghanistan right now. the u.s. wants to formulate an international strategy for afghanistan post-2015. how are the political troubles in that region affecting the west's ability to secure sort of a positive solution going forward? >> i think we've traveled a long way from the idea that the tide of war was receding around the world. when afghanistan looks quieter than the rest of the world, i think it tells you about the state of what is happening

globally in world affairs. with afghanistan, this political deadlock has not done anything other than complicate the nato mission in afghanistan. and really complicated the question of exactly how you get out, exactly with whom are you dealing. and so i think that we're going to see a set of day where is the international community yet again, the united states yet again tries to intervene and say let's figure out how to break this deadlock and let's figure out how we get to an afghan government. >> nice to see you. ayman, thank you very much. we have a lot more ahead on this crucial nato meeting and pressuring putin. we're going to take you live to ukraine coming up as the cold war-like hostilities there continue to heat up. also, fast-food workers walking off their job today, calling for a pay raise. but first, a look at today's planner. the justice department will announce today that they are launching a broad investigation into the ferguson police department, trying to determine whether there was a pattern of

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you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. hundreds of fast-food workers are staging walkouts, demanding a big hike in the minimum wage. at least $15 an hour. and this morning, there have already been arrests in new york city. the first protest started before dawn outside a mcdonald's in times square. and demonstrators in michigan just wrapped up their protests outside another mcdonald's in northeast detroit. there were arrests there as well. we're expecting to see similar protests in about 150 cities over the next several hours,

including los angeles, kansas city, and charleston. we want to check in with nbc's craig melvin, who is following another protest that's under way in new york city right now. what are you seeing there? >> hey, pete. it's not under way just yet. we're expecting this particular protest to start at 11:45. the protest that you mentioned was in times square in front of the mcdonald's. we are expecting that same crowd to make their way to this particular protest at 11:45 outside mcdonald's. these protesters fighting for 15. that's their rallying cry. fight for 15. they want a $15 minimum wage. they also want to be able to unionize as well. the two main things that they are fighting for. i spoke with one of the protesters this morning shortly after it all wrapped up. take a listen. >> i really do think that it show assign of bravery and that we're not doing anything to basically hinder anybody. we're just trying to show that we're trying to stand together

united far good cause. >> people are getting arrested behind you. >> yes, i understand you. that's a show of bravery, that regardless of the fact that they are willing to do whatever it takes in an obedient way to show that they want better pay wages. >> so that's the difference this time around. these protests have actually been going on since late 2012. the difference now, organizers say that they're trying to get arrested. they are trying to use civil unrest and they're trying to use those types of tactics to get arrested. 19 arrests this morning. just spoke to a law enforcement official who said that they're expecting more arrests this afternoon as well. and also, at the other locations around the country. we reached out to mcdonald's yesterday. we got this statement from the fast-food giant. they say in part, "mcdonald's and our independent franchisees, support paying our valued employees fair wages aligned

with the competitive marketplace. we believe that any minimum wage increase should be implemented over time." that coming from mcdonald's yesterday. we'll bring more to you throughout the day. >> it's important to note that organizers are also inviting into this process home health workers. i think it's the bureau of labor statistics says the median hourly wage in that community is roughly $10.10. the fast-food workers are hoping that this will become a movement that extends beyond their community. >> the average fast-food worker wage, we should note, is just under $10 an hour. there's home health care workers, not so many of them at the new york protests. a lot of the home health care workers are joining in the protests in michigan, we're told, and also cleveland as well. and one of the interesting things we saw this morning, in addition to fast-food workers -- and we saw lots of clergy members, lots of low-wage workers, a lot of folks who came out said they just wanted to be part of the protests.

i would say that maybe half of the protesters this morning were actually fast-food workers. >> craig melvin in new york city for us today. craig, thanks very much. coming up next right here on "the daily rundown," a potential game-changer in the battle for control of the senate. why the last-second dropout by the democratic candidate could actually spell trouble for republicans. and carolina clash. we've been telling you about this. new developments in another race that is key to senate majority. but first, today's trivia question. here it is. who is the first sitting u.s. president to visit estonia. the answer and more coming up right here on "the daily rundown." narrator: summer. you know it can't last forever. but that's okay. because a fresh start awaits. with exciting worlds to explore,

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the senate race in north carolina is the closest thing to a 2014 bellwether race this entire cycle. according to smart politics, over the last century, the tar heel state has predicted which party controls the upper chamber. listen to this. 73% of the time, it's likely to be the case again this year. last night, democratic senator kay hagan and republican house speaker tom tillis faced off in their first of three general election debates. the first, a senate clash onstage. tillis did his best to make the race a referendum on the president. take a listen. >> kay hagan went to washington, she rubber stamped barack obama's failed policies. she's voted with president obama 95% of the time. president obama has failed the people of this country, and kay hagan has allowed it to happen. >> senator hagan used the issue of syria to distance herself from president obama. >> the president should have

weaponized the moderate syrian rebels earlier. without doing that, that house allowed isis to grow. time is up, action must be taken. the president needs to bring a resolution, he needs to bring a plan to congress. >> most strikingly, perhaps, hagan stopped short of calling for military action in syria. tillis also avoided saying the president should authorize military strikes. in this race where democrats have a wide gender gap -- tillis is becoming the latest republican to come out in support of over-the-counter birth control. >> i actually agree with the american medical association, that we should make contraception more widely available. i think over-the-counter oral contraception should be available without a prescription. >> i disagree with the hobby lobby decision. speaker tillis agrees with it. it does allow employers to deny

access to birth control for their female employees. when women's best interests are on the line, i will never back down. >> and if you want to understand why the white house is struggling with whether and when to announce executive actions on immigration, last night hagan provided a real-time example of the challenge they face. placating activists in the red states likely to decide senate control. hagan made it clear she does not support the president acting on his own. >> the president should not take that executive action. that should be a congressional decision. but immigration is broken in our country. inaction is not an option. speaker tillis has no plan to solve our immigration system. >> i don't know where senator hague is on amnesty. i think that's a colossal mistake. >> john, give us a sense of your takeaways from this debate last

night, and which candidate you think may have chipped away, may have gained some ground here. >> i didn't see a clear advantage for either one in the debate. i thought it was notable that like in the bytes that you played, thom tillis was trying very hard to tie kay hagan to president obama constantly, but not so much on obama care. he criticized hagan for backing that promise. you can keep your doctor if you like your doctor. but he didn't return to oba obamacare. it was more a general indictment of the obama situation. for kay hagan, she had some targets, that he was insensitive to women. that fits with her strategy of trying very hard to generate turnout among single women, in addition to african-americans, latinos, college graduates and the rest of the democratic coalition here. >> new voting restrictions, some

other key states as well, but income specifically has shrunk early voting. what is the potential impact that could have in turnout in states like this one you're in right now? >> the closer the race, the more potential for an impact. early voting was very important to barack obama. he lost four years later. closed early voting sites on appalachian state. it is true that whenever you have restrictions of this kind put on, it tends to be a powerful mobilizing tool for people who think they might be adversely affected, so it's possible that could offset. but when you've got a race that's within one or two points, anything can make a big difference. >> john harwood in north carolina for us. john, thank you. for more on the senate stakes, let me turn now to mark

murray. he is here with this morning's first read. i want to ask you about this huge story that's developing in kansas right now, where the democratic candidate has dropped out and that could be bad news for republicans. help explain that to us. >> peter, it's a really big deal. now the race goes between pat roberts against independent businessman greg orman. all of a sudden now, pat roberts looks pretty vulnerable. >> looked better with the democrat still in the race. >> correct. if somehow this is in play, and orman ends up winning, that raises the number of seats that republicans have to win to gain control of the senate in november. all of a sudden, if orman ends up winning in this contest and he caucuses with the democrats, then republicans have to win one extra seat, and so the battle for senate control might end up being more difficult for

republicans than it was yesterday. >> that's beginning to be interesting. we start in colorado right now. cory gardner is trying to market himself as a new kind of republican. give us a sense of how that strategy is going and how he's trying to go about it. >> he's been hammered on the issue of contraception, so cory gardner is trying to use this issue. i support over-the-counter contraception as a way to blunt those attacks. this colorado senate race is my favorite race of the contest. it's going to tell us if there's a republican wave. if republicans win this, you can start to see a wave for republicans. but if republicans don't win this contest, test 2015 implications. they continue to end up losing in colorado, which is a very important presidential battleground state. >> that kicks things off. pretty good way to start. nice to see you. we're going to be right back with another urgent issue facing nato leaders meeting as we speak, the possibility of a peace deal between ukraine and

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pro-russian rebels are closing in as we speak on the strategic ukrainian port city, putting locals on highest alert. at the same time, ukraine's president is talking about the potential for peace. after meeting with president obama and other leaders at the nato summit, president poroshenko announced he will order a cease-fire tomorrow, paving the way for a step by step peace process. this comes one day after putin offered his own plan to peace that included an end to rebel aggression in exchange for the ukrainian military's evacuation from the eastern part of that country. and while russia has not moved to annex that region, it doesn't look like it could be too far off. pro-russian rebels have begun sewing this flag into their uniforms and flying it over installations. it's the flag of the new russia.

the name used to describe eastern ukraine when it was still part of the soviet empire. nbc's keir simmons is live and joins us now by phone. i want to ask you about what you're witnessing on the ground there, which we understand includes some fighting already on the outskirts of that city. >> reporter: that's right, peter. there has been artillery shelling by pro-russians on the second to last check. we are standing at the last check point. clearly some people have sustained minor injuries. there was a sustained tank fire. we heard it, the munitions going off for quite some time. so there was a battle. we don't know whether or not it

was a sign of the pro-russians -- a battle to try and storm the city, or whether they were testing the defenses of the ukrainians to see what was possible. but firmly, with all of this talk about a cease-fire, there's no sign of a cease-fire here, peter. >> that's my question to you. what is -- given all the conversation about cease-fire, how can poroshenko be talking peace where the people there are worried about an imminent invasion. what do you hear, that this could reach a conclusion any time soon for the people on the ground there? >> that's right. we just spoke to one ukrainian commander who said you just can't trust the russians. he was absolutely adamant that what he is facing is a russian regular military, not separatists rebels backed by the russians, and we are very close to the russian border here. he was adamant that that's what he's facing. said you can't trust them. we need more resources here. at the same time, by the way, peter, in the last few days, we spoke to a commander on the other side, on the very other side of this battle, and he told

us he wants to keep fighting for the next few months to try and take more territory here in ukraine. but fighting does continue right up to when an agreement is made, and what we are hearing is both sides are saying at a higher level they would be prepared to cease fire if an agreement could be reached. but let's be absolutely clear about this. what president putin is setting out in terms of a potential cease-fire, the ukrainians would have to pull back so they cannot push enemy points against the separatists again. and then the rebels would themselves stop the offensive, so you can see if that was what was agreed, the truth is that russia and the pro-russians here are winning. >> keir simmons on the ground in eastern ukraine as the fighting there continues. keir, be safe and thank you for calling in with that report. coming up next, we go inside mcdonald's meltdown.

how the former governor of virginia's ordinary problems led to an extraordinary down fall. plus, the battle over voting rights. the obama administration vowing to fight this measure aggressively. first, though, our soup of the day comes from the miller and carter steakhouse in cardiff, wales. they're serving up chicken soup for the soul. we'll be right back. hey, i notice your car yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. you shoulda taken it to midas. they tell you what stuff

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download the xarelto® patient center app, call 1-888-xarelto, or visit goxarelto.com surrender to the power of accomodation grooveland ♪ booking.com booking.yeah! the jury weighing the fate of former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife maureen will begin a third day of deliberations any moment. the mcdonnell jury has now spent more than 13 hours behind closed doors, reviewing five weeks of testimony from 67 witnesses. once known as an affectionate couple, once witnessed to be just that, mcdonnells now enter and leave the richmond courthouse alone every day. bob mcdonnell's defense relies

on presenting himself as a bystander to his wife's increasingly erratic behavior. katherine miller is the buzz feed political editor. she's joining us now. you've called the mcdonnells' soap opera a pathetic scandal mired in the ordinary. we've witnessed this marriage unravel basically in front of the cameras. is this just an ordinary american story of a couple desperate to live above their means? how do you define it? >> well, the core thing with the mcdonnells is it started out as this very relatable problem in a certain way. they had tremendous amounts of credit card debt and ptwo properties that lost a lot of money, even when he entered the governorship. so the entire time he was governor, they were facing pretty severe financial problems and they started making a series of bad decisions with loans, and then later, a lot of extraordinary, very luxury end gifts from a donor, and sort of

friend, and now that's kind of the core question is whether there was some agreement between mcdonnell and this donor to give the donor favors to advance a company that he had. >> katherine, i think what strikes me -- and i've been down there sitting in court for some of the days of this before they handed over the jury, is mcdonnell really could have admitted to small wrong doing here. but instead, he's made it clear that he's willing effectively to throw his wife under the bus. the defense team is relying on this broken marriage defense. his family, his children were forced to testify. he's made it clear that he's moved out of his richmond home and is now living with a parish priest. is this an effective strategy? and what's the takeaway about bob mcdonnell, regardless of a verdict? >> well, regardless of the verdict, it's been a pretty shocking, terrible sort of emotional drain on pretty much everyone who's witnessed the trial, whether you know who the mcdonnells are or not. the reason they've pursued the defense is maureen mcdonnell cannot be convicted of corruption by herself.

she wasn't governor. she was just his wife. so now they've sort of shifted everything to her. and it was a total surprise in the sense that they were always, as you said, an affectionate couple in public. no one really knew that they had marital problems. and regardless of whether it was her fault or whether she was pursuing all these loans, it's been shockingly an attack basically on her character as a person. >> katherine miller from buzz feed helping us out as we await word from richmond, virginia. a verdict potentially as early as today in the case of bob and maureen mcdonnell. katherine, thank you very much. >> thank you. turning now to some developing news this morning. we are expecting the justice department today to officially announce an investigation into the police department of ferguson, missouri. this move comes just weeks after an officer shot and killed unarmed teenager michael brown, and nbc's ron allen, who has been there from the beginning, just arrived back on the scene from ferguson and is joining us for the latest.

give us a sense about what we expect to hear today and how that community is reacting to what's effectively an expanded investigation into the police department there. >> reporter: exactly, peter. this, as we understand it, is not focused just on the michael brown case, if that case at all. it looks at this police department in ferguson and perhaps other departments in the county as well over the past few years to look at how they've been conducting arrests, whether they've used excessive force. most of these police forces are majority white officers in majority black communities. here in ferguson, they were three or four black officers on a force of about 53 officers, we understand. so that is the basic dynamic that the justice department, the civil rights division, will be looking at to see if they have been using excessive force, to see if they've been using their police powers in a fair way. while we were here during the whole michael brown investigation, we heard numerous stories from people in this community alleging that the police have been heavy handed, and worse in some cases.

we understand, and there are some reportings -- some of the cases that are involved in the investigation with the justice department include the taser death of a mentally ill man who was stopped by police. there's a case that's described as a pistol whipping of a child, hog-tieing of a child or a young juvenile in police custody. we heard a number of stories while we were here of young people who were being stopped routinely on the streets, that they're on their way home from school. the contents of their bags being emptied in front of them. put in police cars and questioned for no apparent reason and let go. just what you might call general harassment. but we don't know the specifics of exactly what the justice department is beginning to look into. we expect an announcement later this afternoon. we've been trying to reach city officials here. they have not offered any official comment, but they are trying to figure out what to say because obviously there's a lot of attention focused on this particular case. so again, what's interesting about this is that eric holder, the attorney general came here himself a couple of weeks ago, and when he was here, he said

this was one of the most profound experiences that he had while he's been in office. he sat with a number of community people, he exchanged stories with them about being stopped as a young african-american man himself when he was growing up. so there was very interesting for him to talk about all this in deeply personal terms and to say that this was perhaps the most moving experience he had since being attorney general for the past number of years during the obama administration. so again, more details to come later this afternoon, peter. >> we appreciate you being back on the ground and we're curious to see how the community reacts. ron, thanks very much. right now we have time briefly for our trivia. in 2006, we asked you this question. who was the first sitting u.s. president to visit estonia? there it is for you. george w. bush. he made the trip -- do we know when he made the trip? i'm not sure when he made the trip. he was the first to visit the country since it was founded in 1918. we know that for sure. congratulations to today's winner joshua manske. he's the big winner today.

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the justice department is using the tuf -- new restrict n restrictions on voting rights. the legal challenge to this law that governor rick perry -- but that reinstated after the supreme court decision on the voting rights act last year. the law requires one out of seven forms of photo id. zachary ross is a reporter from msnbc.com. zachary, thanks for being with us right now. i want to get a sense of your take away so far from the legal

arguments. as i posed that question to you, i -- it would cost $42 to get a birth certificate. i had to put $42 where it would do the most good. we couldn't eat the birth certificate. the thing is, there's essentially no dispute that there is a large number of texan s sammy louise bates testified,

she moved to texas from illinois two years ago. she wanted to vote, she only had an illinois id. that doesn't fly under the law. she had to get her birth certificate. you can ski why when the law was passed, attorney general eric holder called ate poll tax. it really does propose a tax to get to these underlying documents. that's a hard case. >> very quickly, if i can, this is already proven to be -- how is it affecting a potential outcome there? >> it could have a huge impact if you have these large -- mostly hispanic and black voters. their allies have launched a very agree drive to register new voters, many of them hispanics,

i spent some -- those are the people most likely to be affected by this law. so if you have a close race, and you have several hundred thousand people who have trouble voting. it looks like greg abbott has the lead, but who knows what's going to happen down the stretch? >> that's going to do ill for this edition of the daily rundown. plus he is going to speak to a young woman at the heart of today's nationwide fast food protest. you're watching msnbc.

minimum wage, maximum outrage. fast food workers across the

country, out of the kitchen this morning and off the streets. i'll interview a young mother at the center of this american wage debate. is the president facing a question of courage or is the white house playing a rope and dope game with critics that just might go big soon? all that and more on a big thursday, the fourth of september. >> good morning, i'm jose diaz-balart. the president is joining the president of -- in the next hour, the president will attend a meeting on the tense situation unfolding between ukraine and russia. but the rachd growth apid growt threat of isis is also dominating the discussion.