[ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program. we just want to help everyone, everywhere, breathe a little easier. introducing cvs health. because health is everything. scare in d.c., no real answers at this hour on how a man jumped the white house fence and sprints through to the front door. a live report. new alarm, isis has a new feature film. and the roger goodell news conference, reaction to his latest attempt to get past the huge nfl controversy. and the bridgegate scandal. what did chris christie know and when did he know it? there may be more today.

it's high noon here in the east. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." u.s. investigators today say they are extensively analyzing a new isis propaganda video. it's a 56-minute film titled "the flames of war." this film is highly produced and is narrated by a man who appears to have an american accent. >> the flames of war were burning furiously as the heavy shelling let out thunderous roars that cast fear into the hearts of the enemy. >> well, there is some good news on the isis front. 49 turkish hostages are back home safe today. the group which included diplomats, soldiers and children was kidnapped three months ago when isis stormed through mosul and raided the turkish consulate there. we also have new details on fresh u.s. air strikes in iraq. american fighter jets bombed isis targets both thursday and friday taking out a unit of

militants as well as a supply boat on the euphrates river. and the u.s. may be closer to working with iran against isis. speaking at the united nations yesterday, secretary of state john kerry said that iran has a role to play in the international coalition against the terrorist group. >> it's about taking out an entire network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement. the fact is, there is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including iran. >> joining me now here in studio is marie harf. glad to see you. >> good to be here. >> big question here. as you know, yesterday secretary kerry said iran has a role to play. go back seven days prior and that wasn't necessarily the tone of his statements there. actually saying that iran's been a sponsor of terror. what has changed in seven days? >> nothing's changed. to be very clear, we won't be coordinating with iran when it comes to military action against isil.

but i think what the secretary was saying is that iran can play a more constructive role than we've seen them play in the past in iraq. if they support this new inclusive government, support the iraqi security forces, not militias or anyone else in iraq, that's how we can strengthen them. >> you have to understand the circumstances under which things are said. a week ago when secretary kerry was talking about iran, he was sitting across the table, wasn't he, from a turkish diplomat? and let's face it, turkey, iran, there are some difficulties there, certainly. so might that influence what he was saying at the time? >> i don't think so. we've been consistent in saying a few things about iran when it comes to fighting isil. they know it's a threat. you heard them speak about the threat in that same u.n. security council meeting. there's a more constructive role they can play in iraq in supporting this new inclusive government there.

it's the best way to push back on isil inside iraq. >> let's talk about this new propaganda film. 56 minutes long. it would appear there is an american who is narrating this film. how close are we to finding out whose voice this is, if it indeed is an american's? >> well, the intelligence community back in washington is looking very closely at that video for any clues, any nugget of information that could either indicate who that was, if it is an american, but anything else we can get from that video that may help in the fight against isil. one of the things we've encouraged other countries particularly in the region, arab countries, particularly sunni arab countries, for them to speak out and say that isil doesn't represent islam, to push back on this propaganda narrative that they're trying to promote. having religious leaders stand up and say, they do not represent our religion, that's how you fight this propaganda war. >> but just as it is all but confirmed that it was british voices on previous propaganda

videos, the horrible beheading videos, it is plausible there's an american narrating this film. >> absolutely. a small number of americans have gone to fight with isis or other terrorist groups. it's something we're focused on. in terms of threats to the homeland, we've talked about it a lot in the press and the media. that's the biggest concern right now, is any american who may have a passport who's gone to syria who could come back to the u.s. and probably try and undertake terrorist activities here. we're focused on that. we have ways of tracking people and not allowing them back into the country. but it is a concern. >> when you get things like this propaganda video, how helpful is it in terms of figuring out where isis might be, what their strategy is? how much can we glean from these videos? >> it depends. but you can get a lot of information from them. when it comes to the awful beheading videos that you just noted, the horrific videos, we look at those.

we have people whose job it is to get any information they can from those with the goal of finding out who did this and holding them accountable, no matter how long it takes. so there are clues we can get from these videos and it's something our experts are looking at right now. >> "60 minutes" has an upcoming interview with leon panetta. they have released a clip of that. let's listen. >> back when you watched the stars and stripes being lowered for the last time in baghdad, were you confident in that moment that pulling out was the right thing to do? >> no, i wasn't. i really thought that it was important for us to maintain a presence in iraq. the real key was how can we develop a leadership group among the opposition that would be able to take control? and my view was to have leverage to do that we would have to provide the weapons and the training in order for them to

really be willing to work with us in that effort. >> is leon panetta right? >> well, my former boss, leon panetta, i know was intimately involved in the conversations leading up to the end of the iraq war. and a few things were important to remember from that time. we were not going to leave troops in iraq without the legal protections they needed. the president was clear about that. the iraqis were unable to give us those protections. for our servicemen and women, that was our bottom line. but broadly speaking, the notion that a small number of u.s. troops could have wholly prevented what we've seen over the last two, three, even six months is just a counterfactual no one can prove either way. the iraqi forces are the ones who need to be the boots on the ground fighting against isis. it's not an american combat mission. we've been clear that's not going to happen. it's the iraqi forces. the new inclusive government has to opportunity to bring iraqis together in a way they didn't under the previous iraqi government.

u.s. troops there are not. they didn't take the steps to fight this on their own. >> as you're well aware, congress has voted to arm moderate syrian rebels. here's the big question which i have yet to get definitive answers from any sort of analyst. do we know who the moderate syrian rebels are? do we have a good grasp on the size of these people, who actually their leaders are and how fast they might be trained? if it's a year, that's a long time and a lot of money. >> it is. a few points to remember. this program we asked congress to approve, which they did this week, is for the vetted members of the syrian opposition. we work very closely on the ground with our partners to determine who we think is appropriate to give this assistance to. i think that's actually why some people in congress have criticized the sfraegs. they think this should have happened faster. but we have to vet people. there's always a risk of these arms ending up with someone we don't want to have them. but in this case, the benefit

from it really outweighs the risk. but we need a fighting force on the ground in syria to match the fighting force on the ground in iraq. we need these combat troops. those are going to be syrian opposition forces. we think this is a very important thing to support them. we'll do more of that in the coming weeks, months, years. we'll see. >> marie harf, thank you so much. deputy spokesperson for the u.s. state department. >> thank you. there is another big part of this isis story to share. it deals with the threat here at home, including a new conservative talking point that suggests islamist militants could make it onto u.s. soil by traveling across the mexican border. i will talk with a "new york times" reporter who's written all about that. other developing news out of pennsylvania, police are staking out an area where they're hoping to find the man responsible for last week's ambush of a state trooper. the county remains under lockdown as police consider the suspect armed and very dangerous. nbc'sed issed

nbc's sara dolloff is in blooming grove for us. what do we know? >> reporter: the search is ongoing once again today after another incredibly tense night here with residents stranded by these roadblocks. people had to spend the night in temporary shelters when they couldn't get to their homes. some were asked to shelter in place. that is again being requested of them today while law enforcement combs the ground. we've seen a couple of helicopters up in the sky searching from there. this is now the eighth day that frein has been on the run. and quite honestly, residents say they are tired of being on edge. >> he's a survivalist. so what's he doing? where's he living? >> that's the scary part that you don't know where he is, what his intentions are, if he plans on attacking more cops or even like the schools or just the public. you just don't know. that's what worries everyone. >> reporter: so that's the difficult question there. where is frein?

is he even still in the state? there are no easy answers to that question right now. the dense woods back there. i talked to a hunter who's really familiar with them. he says anybody who wanted to conceal themselves with any -- who had any sort of training like frein, could do so very easily and for a very long time. the search, of course, now has been expanded to at least five neighborhooding states. frein has also been added to the fbi's ten most wanted list. the reward is $175,000. law enforcement is committed to catching this guy. >> we spoke about gunshots being fired in the area last night. is there concern or speculation that may have something to do with the location of eric frein? >> reporter: yeah, that location right there is key. this is near the home where he lived with his parents, where these gunshots were reported. it is the area that was on lockdown last night and the night before for a time. in that area and surrounding areas also where you have hunters being asked not to go

hunting, not to be out there firing your weapon and accidentally misdirecting police in their search efforts right now. that's just one more example of how life is being disturbed here. we didn't have school for several days in any of these neighboring schools. parents having to explain what's going on and people being on edge, we talked to one man who said he was working in his yard the other day and just kept checking over his shoulder. it's really on residents' minds. >> those sentiments, understandable considering the circumstances. sara, thank you so much. other news now, what's believed to be the most sweeping lockdown against disease since the middle ages is under way in sierra leone right now. the west african country tries to get an ebola outbreak under control. thousands of health care workers going house to house opening to find and isolate infected people. that lockdown runs through sunday. new york city is increasing anti-terrorism security at mass transit locations including

grand central terminal and penn state. governor cuomo said there are no credible threats but the city remains a top target for terrorists. the plan includes more security and law enforcement personnel. the ukrainian government and pro-russian separatists agreed to create a buffer zone to divide the two sides in eastern ukraine. it calls for the ukrainian military and the rebels to pull artillery back at least nine miles. the buffer zone would nearly be 20 miles wide. the deal also bans flights by combat aircraft and new minefields. ahead, how could this happen? a live report from the white house on the dangerous security breach that shocked all of us last night. get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain... ...it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away

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new questions this hour about security at the white house after a man jumped the fence and made it all the way past the front doors. parts of the white house were

evacuated friday after secret service said the man managed to get just inside the north portico doors before he was apprehend apprehended. kristen welker, still stunned at this hour. how did this guy manage to get inside those front doors, kristen? >> reporter: i think we're all still stunned, the secret service trying to answer that very question. an official with the secret service identifies the man as 42-year-old omar gonzalez of texas. authorities say it all started at 7:20 friday night when gonzalez jumped the fence and the entire press corps was evacuated, along with white house staffers. this is the first time that's happened in the three-plus years that i've covered the white house. and there's no indication of a similar breach happening in recent history. the dramatic cell phone video captured by an nbc news photographer shows officers with the uniform division of the secret service chasing after a man moments after he apparently jumped the white house fence and ran all the way up the north lawn, approaching the outside portico.

the first family was never in any danger. president obama and his daughters had just left for camp david. secret service officials tell nbc news the man was taken into custody and no one was hurt. while it doesn't happen too frequently, it's certainly not the first time. in fact, just last week, a man wearing a pokemon hat and carrying a toy jumped the fence and was immediately arrested. last month, a slightly smaller scale breach when a toddler squeezed through the fence causing quite a stir. but the all-clear was given quickly. friday was different because this latest intruder got so close. now, the man was arrested just inside the north portico doors. we want to be clear about that. in a statement, the secret service says, quote, this incident is currently under investigation. and the secret service will review the response to ensure the proper protocol is followed. when asked about this breach of security, a law enforcement official underscored the first family was not in the residence at the time.

the individual wasn't armed and may have been mentally disturbed. still the secret service says the location of the arrest is not acceptable and the incident will be closely reviewed. alex, i asked if any heads are going to roll, if anyone's been placed on administrative leave. so far, no response to those questions. alex? >> kristen, you were there, right? you had to be evacuated. >> reporter: yes. >> what was that like? what was the tenor of everything? were you guyed afraid or did you think it was going to be all right? >> reporter: we weren't afraid. we were collectively stunned, alex, when the photographers, the people who were standing outside on the north lawn came rushing into the press area with video, telling us what had happened. everyone was stunned. and then i would say just a few minutes later, the secret service came in and they said, everyone has to evacuate. well, that just added to the shock because that has never happened. and i was here with some veteran white house correspondents who said they can't remember the last time the press corps and

white house staffers were evacuated. so this was a very serious security breach. i don't think anyone was scared because we were leaving the building but we were just shock that had this man was allowed to get so far on the north lawn and to actually enter into the white house residence. >> absolutely. there will be answers forthcoming as to how that happened. thank you. next, an inside look at the nypd's encounter terrorism unit. christopher dickey tells me just how precise their crime-fighting tools are. ssive, so i get invited to quite a few family gatherings. heck, i saved judith here a fortune with discounts like safe driver, multi-car, paperless. you make a mighty fine missus, m'lady. i'm not saying mark's thrifty. let's just say, i saved him $519, and it certainly didn't go toward that ring. am i right? [ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox."

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[meow mix jingle slowly andright on cue.ks.] [cat meows] [laughs] ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with 100% complete and balanced nutrition, and the taste, textures and variety cats love, it's the only one cats ask for by name. the reviews for nfl commissioner roger goodell's surprise news conference are in today. and they are mixed. he faced reporters friday in new york city with an apology. he promised to fix the way the league handles players accused of domestic violence. take a listen. >> our standards and the consequences of falling short must be clear, consistent and current. nothing is off the table.

we will implement new conduct policies. they will have a set of clear and transparent rules for league and club personnel, owners and players. we can't continue to operate like this. >> nbc's hali jackson joins me with more on what goodell had to say. did he do a whole lot yesterday to silence his critics? >> reporter: depends on who you ask. columnist writers inside and outside the sports world slammed roger goodell. he was also blasted on social media even by players in his own league. listen to what darius butler tweeted, this press conference is pointless. steve hartman had this to say, quote, the goodell press conference was a train wreck, 17 minutes late and 40 minutes of bull. this guy had a chance to set things right, he failed. still, alex, goodell did promise changes. so here's a little bit more of what he said.

>> i promise you that any shortcomings he finds in how we dealt with the situation will lead to swift action. the same mistakes can never be repeated. we will do whatever it is necessary to ensure that we are thorough in our review process and that our conclusions are reliable. we will get our house in order first. >> reporter: goodell promised to overhaul the nfl's personal conduct policies. he also pledged that within the next month, all league and team personnel, including executives, coaches, players, will take part in these education sessions on domestic violence and sexual assault, alex. >> hali, there's this new report about how and when the ravens found out about the ray rice incident. >> reporter: espn is reporting hours after ray rice knocked out his then-fiancee at a new jersey casino, darren sanders, the team's head of security, spoke

with an atlantic city police officer who told him he happened to be a ravens fan and described to him what he was seeing. this report goes on to say sanders relayed the videos play by play to executives in baltimore. we've got to point out here, important to do so, nbc news has not verified the details of this espn report. the ravens, though, are blasting it saying it, quote, contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and perhaps mismunsings. the team goes on to say it will address all of this after tomorrow night's game against the browns, alex. >> pretty safe to say a whole lot of to be continued. thank you. in just a few minutes, i'll talk with a sportswriter and radio talk show host about what they did not hear in that news conference that they wanted to hear and get an overall review of this. and how real is the isis threat here at home and news on why some lawmakers are worried about militants coming across the mexican border. that's next. [ hoof beats ]

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how much dirt can we manufacture? more than you think. very little. [ doorbell rings ] what's this? what's that? swiffer sweeper. [ lee ] i came in under the assumption that it was clean. i've been living in a fool's paradise! welcome back to "weekends

with alex witt." it's now time for headlines at the half. police are expecting about 1,100 volunteers today to scour charlottesville, virginia, for clues in the disappearance of university of virginia student hannah graham. today marks one week since graham went missing. the police are following a lead they found from surveillance video. >> my point is this, people saw hannah and people saw him and people saw them together. i will always be hopeful until we find hannah. a raging wildfire in oregon is tearing through heavy timber and dry brush. forced the evacuation of nearly 50 homes. no structures have been lost so far. and an nypd officer saved a woman who was choking while she was driving. he noticed the woman slowing down in the right lane of the bronx river parkway. the officer used the heimlich maneuver after he saw she was holding her throat and appeared to have trouble breathing. well done, officer. the department of homeland security is pushing back against conservative groups and some

leading republicans who warn isis militants could make it into the u.s. by traveling across the mexican border. and the new article in "the new york times" takes a look at the claim and the government's response. so joining me now, the author of that piece, "new york times" reporter michael schmidt. what exactly is this group of conservative leaders and republican lawmakers saying about these militants crossing the mexican border? what's the basis for this? >> it's not clear. but a group called judicial watch put out a report a few weeks ago that said that isis militants were right over the border from el paso and they were plotting car bomb attacks on the united states. and this was such an imminent threat that law enforcement officials had gone into a heightened state of alert and a military base near the border had also ramped up its security. but then when you talk to the department of homeland security and you talk to law enforcement officials, they said there's no basis to this report and there's

no truth to it whatsoever. so what it did was it galvanized some republicans about the border saying we should protect the border more than we ever have. >> here's what you write, to further that line of thought, "democrats say opponents of president obama are simply playing on concerns about terrorism as part of their attempt to portray mr. obama has having failed to secure the border against illegal immigration." is there some legitimate reason for concern? >> i think what senior law enforcement officials will say is that the border is not perfect. there are people that get through the border on nearly a daily basis. and there are people that come across and there are people that aren't caught. but what the government says is that they don't have any intelligence that isis is actually plotting to do something. and they don't have any evidence that other extremists from syria that may be targeting the u.s. are looking at the southern border.

what they do say is that it would be much easier for a european or american who is in syria to simply fly to the united states and pass through customs because when they went to syria and they got training there, they didn't get their passports stamped. they just simply snuck into the country. >> senator john mccain was asking defense secretary chuck hagel about this earlier today. let's listen to that. >> i'm always concerned about -- >> is that a serious concern of yours? >> i think we have to always look at these things as serious concerns -- >> in other words, do you think we have to improve our border security, especially on the southern border? >> we can improve our border security. >> so officials, michael, from the department of homeland security, what are they saying about all this? >> they acknowledge that the border's a very difficult problem and that there are people in drug cartels that get through. but they also say there's an enormous amount of attention, intelligence resources, military resources, border protection stuff, that is focused directly

on the border and looking at intelligence about this. they just say, look, what's going on here from the republicans is that they're saying things that we just don't have information about. but what judicial watch says is that the obama administration is simply looking the other way on this issue and that they don't want to admit that there actually are problems at the border. >> and you also say -- this is not new by your writing. you write that there's been plenty of warnings about the possibility of terrorists entering the u.s. from mexico, right? >> well, this actually dates back at least to the 1980s when the united states had a conflict with libya, there were reports that libyan hit men were trying to come over the border and customs agents at the border were scouring cars looking for these guys and they never found them. and a congressman from el paso sort of made this his issue of fact-checking the border. what he says is the united states has a history of projecting its fears on the border, no matter what it's worried about, it says, well, that problem is going to come over the border.

and he says there's no history to that or nothing that backs it up and it's an unfounded fear. >> from "the new york times," michael schmidt, thanks much. we have new criticism today of nfl commissioner roger goodell after a news conference where he sought to clear the air after promising to overhaul the league's policy on domestic violence. goodell took some pretty tough questions from reporters who pressed him on how they've been hald pd so far. >> have you considered resigning at any point throughout this? >> why do you feel like you should be able to continue in this role? >> what exactly did ray rice tell you happened in the elevator? >> why do you think the domestic violence crimes such as ray rice gave you such a difficult time and weren't treated as harshly as maybe some others were? >> do you still believe that to the best of your knowledge, that no one in the nfl office has seen the ray rice video before it surfaced on tmz? >> yes. >> joining me now from cbs sports radio, dana jacob sop and from "sports illustrated,"

robert klemko. dana, the questions that you wanted to have asked and answered, did you get that yesterday? >> no. i don't know that he really answered the majority of the questions in a way that we all wanted as media and as a lot of the public out there, especially, what was it that ray rice told you at first that then the video showed differently? that was part of it. and even bigger than that, it's great that you want to implement a new personal conduct policy and have a new committee. how is it possible that in the last ten days you haven't even taken a single step towards doing that? it's great to talk about it. but there was nothing concrete that we could actually hold onto except for the fact that he's finally willing to admit that maybe he has to give up some control in punishments. which is a huge step for him and especially people who know him so well. but that's one tiny little thing. no punishment even. no monetary fine for himself despite putting such a black mark on the league at this point. >> the fact that he couldn't

answer ray rice's -- the specifics about that, he said because it's on appeal. did that hold water with everybody? >> it didn't for me. it doesn't for me especially in the fact that maybe you could have had the chief of the nfl p.a. there, from demorris smith there so he could say, tell us what you know. >> we got new information from the first time i met with him to my initial discipline, which three weeks later i acknowledged was not sufficient. it was clear there was an act of domestic violence. but it was inconsistent with the way he described what happened. >> what did he say?

what did he tell you happened? >> the one issue with this is this is now a matter of appeal. >> so he also talked about it being ambiguous, that which ray rice had told him at first. so overall, does this still -- is this still kind of the smoking gun? >> very much so. especially when it comes to the ravens and there's a new espn report that i'm sure most have seen or heard about overnight. it broke last night. just about what the ravens really did know. that within minutes, their chief of security reportedly was getting a play-by-play description of what was on that tape. that's the ravens' to deal with. it is entirely possible the ravens did not share that with the commissioner if they chose not to. but it does go back to the question of how did the nfl not get that tape? and even if they didn't, they read the police report. it's on there. there is so much -- that is the smoking gun. there's so much we know isn't being admitted to right now. >> robert, i want your assessment of things. first of all, goodell's performance, the takeaway -- did

it give you more questions than answers? and also let's talk about how overall the nfl is handling cases of domestic violence and if you have hope for the future change. give me your assessment on all that. >> well, i think the biggest question that i wanted answered and of course went unanswered at the press conference was for goodell to address the voice mail that the a.p. reported was left by a league employee to a police officer who had sent the video and said it's absolutely terrible. and goodell was asked about that voice mail. and how if a league employee had it, how could he not have seen the video? and he deflected to the investigation by robert mueller saying it was ongoing. which was predictable. to me, it seemed like a press conference for the sake of having a press conference. the only news that came out of it were the league's various partnerships with women's rights advocates and this acknowledgment that goodell is

ready to hire and compile a board that will hear appeals for personal conduct. as dana mentioned, that's a huge step for the nfl. >> yeah. >> those who are not nfl fans might be surprised to know that with the 2011 collecting bargaining agreement, goodell not only adjudicates all personal conduct penalties but also hears the appeals himself and only in high-profile cases with a lot of scrutiny does he hire an outside arbitrator. so just the fact that they want to have an appeals committee is a big step for him. >> do you think, robert, that this did more to really expose how the league has handled or mishandled domestic violence cases in the past? >> i'm sorry. could you repeat -- >> do you think that this whole thing served to just point out the failings of the nfl in handling domestic violence cases in the past and present? >> well, i think if you look back at the record of roger goodell specifically, his handling of domestic violence cases, most of the cases that

are adjudicated and a guilty verdict is reached, the most a guy will get in terms of a suspension is one or two games. when the nfl finds substantial evidence in the absence of a guilty verdict, often the offender gets a one-game suspension or none at all. in this case, which is so unique, we have video. and in other cases, we have pictures with adrian peterson. i think that's obviously what brought this entire situation to a head and highlighted the way they've mismanaged the whole thing. everybody makes the comparison to the drug suspensions. a player caught with marijuana or who tests positive for a second time under the personal conduct policy is subject to a four-game suspension in the nfl, whereas these men who are convicted of abusing spouses or other women are only getting one or two-game suspensions. >> yeah. robert and dana, thank you both so much. ahead, we have new answers

on what chris christie knew and when he knew it in the bridgegate scandal.

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for a body in motion. one year after the traffic jam infamously dubbed bridgegate, federal officials tell jonathan dienst that nine months into the ongoing investigation into new jersey governor chris christie, it has found no evidence that he ordered the lane closures on the george washington bridge or knew of them in advance. joining me with the story is jonathan dienst, chief investigative reporter for wnbc new york. jonathan, does it look like governor christie's been fully cleared? >> that would be premature to say because the investigation is ongoing. but as you noted, nine months, grand jury, fbi agents, federal prosecutors have been working this case, questioning witnesses, going over documents and e-mails. and over those nine months to date they have found no evidence, no information that suggests chris christie had any advanced knowledge or played any

direct role in the shutting down of those traffic lanes. we're told the investigation is still focusing very hard on some of his aides and some of those port authority staffers, former port authority staffers who may have played a direct role in it. and that part of the investigation is moving full steam ahead and we may, may see criminal charges down the road. after we did this report about where the investigation stands as of now, chris christie went on the radio and said he didn't want to comment on it, make too much of a big deal about it. he says, that's what he's been saying all along and that he hopes to move forward. this is the scandal that really impacted him and his political aspirations to run for the white house. if he is ultimately cleared, political analysts we spoke with said this could make a major difference for him and perhaps clear some of the road as he looks to move forward with a possible presidential run. but, again, nothing is done yet. but his attorney hasn't

commented. his office has only said the investigation is ongoing. >> yeah. as you're well aware, the scandal sparked a lot of other allegations, most notably the separate claims the governor's office engaged in a quid pro quo with hurricane sandy money or hoboken, new jersey. any developments on those allegations? >> there's a hud inspector general report on this sandy fund issue. there are separate investigations ongoing into port authority funds and whether they were used to prop up certain communities, used for a different bridge here in the new york area, new york/new jersey area. those investigations, ongoing. nothing we've learned separate and apart in terms of developments or whether it will lead to criminal charges. what we can say is the story that really caught the public's imagination, the bridgegate issue, where lanes shut down and what did the governor know about it, the update we have from investigators familiar with this case is that the governor did not have any advanced knowledge

of this at this time. nine months into that investigation. >> anything behind the announcement by new york governor andrew cuomo that he's beefing up security at transport sights? everyone's on higher alert given isis and the possibility of it reaching the united states. anything specific this is based on? >> law enforcement sources say there's no specific or credible threat to new york. but there's been a lot of chatter, a lot of internet postings about how isis terrorists and al qaeda operatives want to target new york. we've known this for years. of late, there's been an increase in that type of chatter. we see the events going on around the world. as a precaution, the nypd and governor cuomo and state resources are beefing up patrols at times square, at the rail stations, at the airports, just to make sure. we also have the united nations general assembly happening this month. so new york is going to have a massive security increase with all the world leaders in town. so as a precaution, they're stepping forward. they're very concerned.

a lot of terrorism experts say they have not seen this kind of chatter since pre-9/11 so they're worried. but there's no specific information that -- >> just lost that signal with jonathan dienst. thank you, jonathan. will he or won't he? a grand jury in ferguson has extra time to determine whether darren wilson will face charges in the michael brown shooting y. more pepperoni. cheers! pillsbury pizza crust. make dinner pop 3d white brilliancele with the toothpaste and boost.m crest: after brushing, our exclusive boost... ...polishes your smile and whitens with 3x the stain lifting ingredient... ...for a smile that dazzles. only from crest 3d white.

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in today's office politics, foreign editor for "the daily beast" christopher dickey, we begin talking about the possibility of an israeli slr palestini palestinian two-state solution until tragedy struck. >> what happened? i'll tell you one thing that happened was that a jewish radical murdered someone.

i won't tell you it was all a bed of roses. but the radical people inside israel, like the man who shot him, believed that because his government was supported by arab israelis, it was an illegitimate government and was going to somehow surrender the rights of israel to, among other things, the west bank. so they murdered him. i don't know if you've ever been to israel and seen the wall between jerusalem and bethlehem. but it looks like the great land of oz. it's this enormous wall with parapits on it. and it's a terrible symbol, but it has helped keep terrorists out of israel. what did they do in gaza? the bombing campaign in gaza and the shelling campaign had many objectives. but one of them was essentially to create a buffer zone that

took away 44% of the territory of gaza. it just leveled it. >> but in terms of security, it had to get rid of all the tunnels? >> that's what i'm saying. but there's so much resentment against israel in gaza that nobody wants to just surrender their dignity to israel and say, yes, i will do whatever you say. so that's problem number one. problem number two is that the way they carry out their resistance will involve terrorist activities against israel that are completely unacceptable to any israeli government. and of course they are. no israeli government is going to sit there and say, oh, yes, launch thousands of rockets. so they have to go after them. but the third catch, the worst catch of all, is that netanyahu doesn't want to get rid of hamas. he wants to tame, intimidate and contain hamas because if he gets rid of hamas, the situation has been created where the next

group that comes in there could be very much like isis, in fact, it could be isis. >> it could be worse. >> it could be much worse than hamas. with hamas, you've got some basis for conversation. there's an issue, do they recognize israel's right to exist or not? that kind of semantical question is essentially a diplomatic question. >> let's look at what you have here. the display of books. securing the city is the one i want to look at. it's off the bottom there. this one, you talk about new york city's counterterrorism in a post-9/11 world. talk about the helicopter flight that you took at the beginning of that. what did you observe from that? >> when i was working on this book, one of the things i wanted to see was what sort of high-tech tools the nypd used to fight terror. and one of them is an unmarked helicopter that flies above. you see police helicopters. one of those other helicopters up there is equipped with

super-sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment. it's pretty impressive. that's only one of the many things that they have. they have license plate readers. they have an suv that looks like mom's suv. they have more than one that cruises around the streets, particularly at high-risk moments like new year's eve, that is equipped to pick up radioactive signatures. most of the police, especially again, high-risk moments, most of the police officers, more senior officers out on the street will have geiger counters on their belts because they're worried about, again, radiological bombs or nuclear terrorism. the good thing and the scary thing about the nypd counterterror operations is they combine the power of local cops with the power of cia-level intelligence gathering. and once you do that, you are in a whole different world. coercive power of local police

is tremendous. they can pick you up for traffic tickets or minor offenses. they can search your warrants anytime they want. and they can find a way to go after you. then you really are in a situation where we are being kept safer. but there are a lot of civil liberties questions. >> tomorrow at this time, chris tells me what america's role needs to be in the battle over ukraine and he shares the rich history of his life with his father celebrated writer james dickey. coming up in the next hour, a desperate search for a missing college student has an entire town in despair. the latest in the search for hannah graham. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa!

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love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. and we're new to the pacific northwest. the rain, the mud -- babam! it's there. the outside comes in. it's kinda nasty so you start the towel-mop shuffle. where are you sun?! [ doorbell rings ] oh, wow, it's a swiffer wetjet. this puts my towel mopping to shame. whoa! ewww. sunshine is overrated, now we can get messy. [ laughs ] white house security breach. a man jumps a fence and makes it all the way to the entrance. how did he get so far? damage control. nfl commissioner roger goodell apologizes about how he handled the ray rice situation. was his apology enough. plus, security versus privacy. attorney alan dershowitz joins me on the trade-offs between

fighting terror and preserving civil liberties. good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here's what's happening right now as we begin with developing news this pennsylvania. right now, police are staking out an area where they are hoping to find the suspect in last week's slaying of a state trooper. police describe 31-year-old eric frein as a self-taught survivalist with a grudge against law enforcement. much of the area in and around minnesota row county remains on lockdown as police consider him armed and dangerous. sara dolloff is in blooming grove with the latest. what are officers telling you? >> reporter: that's the big question right now, alex. within this last hour, they have reissued their request for residents to shelter in place in the barrett and price townships. that gives you some indication that they're focusing very strongly on this area right now.

that affects about 8,000 people and they're not only being asked to stay indoors. they're also being asked to stay away from any windows. this really illustrates the hold this manhunt has on these communities. people are virtual prisoners in their homes right now. school with us canceled the past few days. there's no word on when it will reopen. and there's just an overall tension over this whole area. law enforcement on the ground right now, they're clearing possible hiding spots, things like vacation homes that are vacant right now and hunting cabins. we've also seen air support today, two helicopters searching from overhead. there's no guarantee that frein is in this area. keep in mind, the search has been expanded to at least five neighboring states and it became a national manhunt when the fbi added him to their most wanted list and increased that reward to $175,000. >> but, sara, is there a concentrated search effort in any particular area? we're looking at the poconos there. there's lots of wooded area. or is it around residential areas? what are you finding out on

that? >> reporter: right now, the focus is really on the barrett and the price townships. to give you an idea of that size, that's about 75 square niles when you add those two together. and it's mixed, you have residential, commercial but also a lot of this heavily wooded area where it would be very easy to hide if somebody wanted to. it's also focused last night during those road barricades and the shutdown, the shelter in place that started last night and the night before, those focused on the neighborhood where he lived with his parents. there were reports of gunfire there last night just before 7:00 p.m. but right now, law enforcement very tight-lipped, playing it close to the vest during this search and they're not commenting on that report. >> sara, thank you so much. new information in the case of the missing university of virginia student. this is new surveillance video of the man police are calling a person of interest. he was seen entering a charlottesville bar with 18-year-old hannah graham the

night she vanished. soon after police say the 32-year-old's car left the downtown area. authorities have not publicly identified the man but they say he's 6'2", has dreadlocks. friday police made a passionate plea for more witnesses to come forward. >> everyone within the sound of my voice has that responsibility. if you live in the city of charlottesville, if you attend the university of virginia, if that young lady's touched your life in any way, you have the responsibility to help us find her. >> hannah graham has been missing for over a week now. at the half hour, i'll talk with msnbc's clint van zant on how police have identified a person of interest. we have new video of a man jumping the white house fence making it all the way inside the front doors. let's take a look at this. authorities apprehended him on friday. he is now under arrest. president obama and his family were not at the white house at the time. but some areas were evacuated. that would include where nbc's kristen welker was at the white

house at the time. kristen, with a welcome again, have you learned anything about who this guy is? >> reporter: well, secret service officials have identified him as 42-year-old omar gonzalez. he is from texas. he's being evaluated at a local hospital, still in police custody. he faces charges of unlawful entry. secret service officials don't know why he jumped the fence. but it certainly caused quite a stir here last night. it happened at 7:20. that's when mr. gonzalez jumped over the fence, ran across the north lawn, just behind me, and actually made it all the way into the front doors of the north portico. and that's when he was apprehended, just a few moments after he entered the north portico doors. the white house press corps, white house staffers were all evacuated while secret service did a sweep of the entire grounds inside the white house to make sure that nothing was left here. he wasn't carrying a bag. he wasn't armed. no shots were fired. so no one was hurt.

but obviously this is a major security breach. secret service officials saying they're working to get to the bottom of exactly how this could have happened. and they say it's unacceptable, quite frankly, that he was apprehended inside the white house doors. that's, of course, the residence. now, important to underscore and point out the fact that the first family was not there at the time. they had just left for camp david. but criticism is coming in this morning. jason sh jas jason chaff its was one of thos with criticism. this the in the wake of the scandal with bad behavior that's led to the dismissal of secret service agents. there's a new director who was appointed by president obama. so they're really trying to turn their image around.

and this is not going to help. it's a huge security risk. but they are determined to find out how this happened and how to prevent it from happening in the future. i asked if anyone's going to be fired or if anyone's been placed on administrative leave. at this hour, no response to those questions. alex? >> okay. when you get the answers, i know you'll share them with us. the next step in the michael brown shooting investigation will take a little longer to complete as the grand jury has until january 7th to decide if officer darren wilson will be charged. that news is igniting more criticism of the prosecutor's handling of the case. the st. louis post dispatch reported that officer wilson testified for about four hours earlier this week. i'd like to bring in a national reporter for "usa today." the first question to you, how are prosecuting explaining the reason for this additional time? >> the prosecutor's office said they are just beginning to present evidence to the grand jury. they say it's going to be a long

process mainly because they've chosen to present all the evidence that they have from the fbi and county police. so what they're saying is their grand jury is going to be able to look at every shred of evidence they have, including as you mentioned listening to darren wilson speak himself. so i think they really have just said, we have a lot of evidence and we want this grand jury to make the decision. and they want them to see as much information as possible. so i think that's how they've explained this january 7th extension. however, they haven't said they're going to go past that mid october decision. even though they've asked for more time, the prosecutor's office hasn't changed its stance telling reporters that could be all over by mid october. >> interesting. prosecutors are not recommending anything in terms of what kind of prosecution they might go, what kind of charges, correct? >> from my understanding, that is correct. that's a decision that has angered protesters because people are saying that the prosecutor mccullough should

have recommended some charges and then said, what do you think about murder or manslaughter or second-degree murder? instead his office said they are going to allow the grand jury to make that decision. and they're going to guide them. so that is a decision that has definitely angered protesters and definitely angered the family of michael brown. >> how is this going down in ferguson? what's the mood like there with all this? >> i think people are getting increasingly angry. one person said that extending the grand jury was almost like pouring gasoline on a flame. i talked to the family attorney for michael brown and he said he thinks that people are mostly trying to incite a riot because he thinks these decisions to extend the grand jury -- and i must also say the decision to have darren wilson testify for four hours has really angered people. people are really wondering what's going on here as you have probably covered. there have been protests after protests and press conferences asking that darren wilson be charged. so people are really thinking that mccullough is making a

mistake. they say he could have charged wilson on his own. but now extending the grand jury's time. >> look, you talk about darren wilson testifying for four hours. i know that grand jury testimony is secret. but is there a sense at all of what he may have said? >> i imagine that he's really taking the grand jury through that day and trying to explain to them why he did -- why he shot michael brown. i think that he likely was telling them about himself, likely telling them about his history as a police officer and also likely taking them step by step, minute by minute -- i would actually say second by second of his decision to kill michael brown. i talked to the attorney for the family of michael brown. and he said he was flabbergas d flabbergasted, to be honest, and say that darren wilson was there for four hours. he said this incident, the shooting only lasted a couple of minutes. what was he doing for four hours? i suspect that he was really trying to explain as best he can, maybe repeating himself as best he can to explain to the grand jury why he did what he

did. >> thank you so much. good to see you. >> thanks. the controversy over congressman approving the plan to arm and train syrian rebels, the vote was not unanimous. and ahead, one congressman who thinks it's a bad idea. how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40, $21. could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement? i don't think so. well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. ♪ here's something fun to do with hot dogs. make easy crescent dogs. pillsbury crescent rolls. ♪ make dinner pop.

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this program that we asked congress to approve, which they did this week, is for the vetted members of the syrian opposition. we work very closely on the ground with our partners to determine who we think is appropriate to give this assistance to. there's always a risk of these -- of this assistance, these arms ending up with someone we don't want to have them. but in this case, we think the benefit from it really outweighs the risk. >> that was state department deputy spokesperson marie harf with whom i spoke to in the last hour. joining me now, congressman

lloyd doggett of texas. welcome, sir. >> thank you, alex. >> it's interesting. this week you voted against that resolution to arm the moderate syrian rebels. what was your objection? >> anytime americans are murdered, we need a forceful response but it has to be a smart response. while i'm sympathetic to those syrians who have o opposed the murderous assad regime, the notion we can take syrians out of syria to saudi arabia of all spots, a place that is known for its disdain of american values and its own beheadings on a regular basis on what they call locally chop-chop square, that we can take people there, create our own army, then put it back into syria strikes me as being a very challenging enterprise. i was concerned that this resolution expanded the u.s. role there in the middle east to include syria, something i've opposed in the past. what we want is a strong

response to isis without involving us in a long-term ground war where we are doing most of the fighting and most of the paying for the enterprise. >> but, sir, in terms of what you just said with most of the fighting, it is true that we may continue with air assaults. but there's been assurances from every direction that there will be no u.s. boots on the ground. >> assurances, but in fact we already have in iraq -- we're headed to our 2,000 american ground forces there on the ground. and as one of my san antonio neighbors, gloria floress, recently communicated to me, these aren't just boots on the ground as we all refer to them. they're sons and daughters. she mentioned as she mourned the loss of her nephew in afghanistan in the marines, that it's time for the saudis and the jordanians and the other people in the area, the turks who will not even permit us to fly out of

inserlic on air raids over isis, it's time for them to carry a bit of the burden. if they think we're doing it all, despite the assurances, once american troops are involved in the air, the danger of mission creep is very, very real as military experts indicated this week and as republicans continue to demand that we shoot more and kill more. >> sir, do you have a very clear sense of who these moderate syrian rebels are? has that been communicated clearly to congressman? >> not really. we've received assurances just like no boots on the ground, that these would be moderates, that they would be carefully vetted so that we are not passing along weapons to boast sides as we've in fact done in iraq with isis itself, taking so many weapons that are paid for by the american taxpayer to use against us. but i think it's a very difficult enterprise. it's an enterprise now that it's been approved, i certainly wish it well.

i want the president to be successful here. but i think we're going to have to continue to monitor it very carefully to see that it really accomplishes its objective and that we do not become entangled until one civil war after another. i think the people in the region are willing for the american taxpayer and the american service family to kill as many of their enemies as possible. but they're not necessarily willing to do their fair share. >> sir, have you heard of other viable plans to put forward, whether or not you would sign onto that or other colleagues of yours in congress? >> i think what the president was doing was prudent up till about the time he declared we didn't have a strategy. and then i think it kind of overcompensated the other way. i believe that a strong counterterrorism effort against isis is very appropriate. it's within the president's power. there are so many people around the world that wish us harm that are terrorists across nigeria,

mali, yemen. but the question is, do they pose a threat to americans in a way that could strike here in our homeland? and we heard again this week that this group, though it could attack this afternoon, does not have that capability as best our intelligence can tell. so focusing on counterterrorism, not adding to their ability to enlist even more people is the direction that i favor. and i think that may be what happens going forward, this idea of broadening the mission and having it go on for years is something that i'm concerned about and i don't think should occur without careful limits being put in place by congress. >> well, one of the angles to be concerned about -- let's face it, as far as committee assignments go, you're the man with all the money, is this afforded? >> we can't afford for terrorists to threaten us here. that would be even more costly

than the dollars. but i remember the -- what was called the burn rate as we burn through millions of dollars in iraq. in fact, we spent over $25 billion equipping and training the iraqi military with our service members right there on the ground bravely assisting. and that hasn't worked out too well. so this is an even more challenging enterprise. i think we do need to look for the money. we need to be asking if those in the region that are more directly threatened than we are are not willing to put up the money, why should the american taxpayer have to do all of it? >> there are cynics who want to point this out, which is that while all of this is going on, while the u.s. is engaged in a war that's surely going to increase, congress has gone home early for a fall recess. that's not going to end until after the midterm election. congress just got back from summer recess. was there any consideration that there are some important things to be done in washington right now and that we should stick around? >> alex, i couldn't agree with you more. i think this congress hasn't

worked. and as a result, there are too many americans that are not working to their full capability. whether it was the important job of immigration reform, which would grow our jobs or tending to a wide range of other issues, this congress seemed to leave early. even this week, i think maybe we ran out of post offices to name because that's about all the congress was doing. some wouldn't vote on a war authorization and take a stand. i think the congress ought to be working right now not just on the issue of what's happening abroad but what's not happening here at home. >> congressman, thank you for your time. nfl commissioner roger goodell speaks out amid the criticism that keeps on coming.

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promising to fix the way players are punished who are accused of domestic violence. >> the nfl sets an example that makes a positive difference. unfortunately over the past several weeks, we have seen all too much of the nfl doing wrong. that starts with me. but now i will get it right and do whatever is necessary to accomplish that. >> goodell's apology did little to silence his critics, many of them women's organizations. one player even took to twitter calling the press conference, quote, pointless. msnbc contributor and nbc sports radio host jason page is joining me now. jason, with a welcome, i have to go first things first here. i hear it is your birthday. >> it is. >> happy birthday. >> thank you very much. >> there are some questions that you wanted answered that were not yesterday, right? >> there was nothing answered.

what really did he tell us? well, i'm going to have a panel put together by the super bowl. okay. there really wasn't a lot answered. i was left unimpressed with what the commissioner came away with yesterday and what he came out with. say all you want that you made a mistake, you made a mistake. leaving a mistake is leaving the iron on. leaving the mistake -- a mistake is not what happened here. i feel something far more nefarious happened here. they can say all they want, that robert mueller is going to investigate. robert mueller is linked to a law firm that the nfl has done plenty of work with. no matter what the outcome, if it's in favor of the league in terms of the investigation, a lot of people are going to have a lot of questions as to the validity of such an investigation. i don't know what the commissioner accomplished yesterday. >> okay. so you're saying you didn't get questions answered. can i ask what questions you thought you expected to have

answered? where was that fall-down? >> he gave us nothing in terms of a videotape that came to the nfl offices that they claim they have no knowledge of. okay, if there's no knowledge of it, why did somebody at your office sign for it, acknowledge a voice mail with a voice mail message saying, i got your tape? where did that come from? we can't really talk about it. i don't want to really say. all right. what's going on with the ray rice appeal? we can't really talk about it. we can't really say. why did you make it an indefinite suspension after you originally made it a two-game suspension? well, we can't really talk about it. it's in the appeals process. we can't really say. i want to know from anybody who can tell me, what did we learn yesterday that we didn't already now? they're going to make stiffer penalties, they're going to make it tougher on you if you drink and do drugs, if you beat up a woman, if you beat up a child, push an old lady down the stairs. whatever it may be. we didn't learn anything yesterday. >> why do you think he's facing

such backlash even from players? >> well, some of the reason players are -- this is their opportunity to get back at the long arm of the law. this is just, jury, executioner for the last several years in the nfl. some guys are going to take shots at him. i also think there is a percentage of people in the media that now this is the cost celeb. everybody else is killing the commissioner, so let's go after him. there are enough legitimate concerns to talk about in terms of, how is anybody supposed to -- somebody's got to tell me this. how's anybody supposed to have confidence in this commissioner to fix what's wrong when a lot of what's wrong is at his hands? i don't know how you fix that. >> it's going to be open-ended for now. i think the answers will be forthcoming. jason page, have fun celebrating your birthday tonight. >> thank you. ahead, the latest in the search for a missing college student. why police say they may have zeroed in on a person of celeste. mm. feel it.

j.j. watt? you know there's a game on tonight right, amy? oh, i know, but it's my turn to chaperone. right, but you could do both. how? nfl mobile is now free with the more everything plan from verizon. i have verizon! download it, you can watch the game right here. come on, let's boogie! oh, helen. for the first time watch live local sunday games on nfl mobile. included with the more everything plan exclusively from verizon.

welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." here are your fast five headlines as we get to within the sweeping lockdown under way in sierra leone right now. 6 million people being told to stay home as they try to get an ebola outbreak under control. dozens of turkish hostages have been freed and safely returned to turkey. ukrainian government and pro-russian separatists making a new agreement to create a buffer zone to separate both sides. the agreement adds substance to a truce signed that has been frequently violated by both sides. in florida rainy weather for space-x to delay its latest launch this morning. the company was due to deliver more supplies to the international space station. and an nypd officer saved the life of a driver in the bronx. the woman was choking on a cough drop and had pulled over to the side of the road when the officer noticed her.

he performed the heimlich maneuver and saved her life. the search is under way and is intensifying today for a university of virginia student who mysteriously vanished a week ago. this surveillance video shows a man police are calling a person of interest. they say he was seen at a downtown charlottesville bar with 18-year-old hannah graham the night she went missing. police did not find enough evidence to issue an arrest. authorities are asking anyone who may have seen anything to come forward. >> we need people's help to find this young lady. they want to know what happened to their little girl. that's all. and that's what i want. and that's what you want. so we've got to do this together. >> nbc analyst and former fbi

profiler clint van zant joins me now with more on this investigation. you can tell that officer is just heartbroken over this. charlottesville is a beautiful, sleepy college town. he turns around and follows her. when these videos came out, he showed up at the police department and said, that's me. i was standing on the street. she looked like she was in trouble or anxious. so i followed her to see if i could help. but then i saw a guy come up alongside her, put his arm around her and they walked away together. when the police looked at more videos, alex, they find now an african-american male who they believe is this 32-year-old guy, about 6'2", 250 pounds with dreadlocks. they say he does a 180 on the street in the videos. comes up behind hannah.

slips his arm around her, then they go into a restaurant. he orders drinks and that's the last time hannah is seen. supposedly he comes out, the police are suggesting maybe he comes out with hannah, gets in his car and drives away. that's why the police based upon tips from the public have seized his car. they're searching his car, they're searching his house. they're trying to find some evidence that might link him to her other than this video. >> okay. how much more do they need to issue a warrant? >> it's going to depend somewhat on what he has to say. let's say he's told the police, i know i have a right to remain silent, i've got nothing to say, then the police have to build a whole case. he may, like some people say, uh-oh, i might be in trouble, so we got in a car and we drove away and went someplace together and i dropped her at her dorm. what police are doing now, they're searching his car, they're searching his house.

they're trying to find hairs, fib fiber, saliva, fingerprints, anything that can put her in that car. let's say hypothetically something that would put her -- may could look like she might have been in distress, maybe even in the trunk of the car. if they can build a circumstantial case, they can go ahead and arrest him. but what they don't want to do is arrest him too soon, here comes the fruit of the poisonous tree. anything he says or anything they find after the arrest gets thrown out. they don't want to lose it. they think they have a person of interest in this man. they know who he is. they know where he is. so now they're trying to build their case. but in the meantime, 1,500 people are out in this community today searching -- they're looking in dumpsters, in sewers, in abandoned buildings. they're doing everything they can to bring hannah home. and you and i have covered enough of these stories that we know, do people come back after a week, a year, 20 years?

the answer is yes, they do. but the statistical probability, unfortunately, gets lower each day that this goes by and they haven't found this young lady. >> yeah. it's always so difficult to talk about these cases. i'm glad we make the public aware. clint, thank you. >> thank you. now to the very latest in the battle over how to exactly fight the terror group isis. the house and senate approved president obama's request to arm moderate syrian rebels. but the debate this week was fierce. >> i believe that this train-and-equip program is the best chance we have to bring about a negotiated political solution in syria. >> i have reservations about the president's plan to train and equip the so-called moderate syrian rebels. >> i believe that we can't ignore the threat from isil and because i believe that the strategy that the president has opposed is probably the best option that's available to us at this time. >> we are a poor track record in determining who our friends are

in the past and vetting -- i'll have to tell you, mr. secretary, the people we rely on for that vetting, i don't have any confidence in. >> equip and train because we did such a great job in iraq, $35 billion later. >> joining me now, jimmy williams and former special assistant to president george w. bush ron christie. hi, guys. ron, there were many republicans in the house and senate who went along with the president, they voted for arming these rebels. do you think they're convinced it can actually happen and work? >> well, i think they are, alex. but i'm not. i look at what the president said a couple of weeks ago and the president said, are we really going to arm farmers, doctors, are these the folks who are going to wipe out isis? and two weeks later, we're giving $500 million. i have serious reservations. i don't know where this money is going, to whom it's going or the ultimate version of what the

president's success will be. given them $500 million i don't think is the right way to go right now. >> the president's been meeting with his cabinet members, intelligence officials as well. the questions that ron brings up, the who, the exactly where, the how much -- is this the only choice the white house had? were there any other options on the table? >> ron just said something very interesting, which is what's the end game, et cetera, et cetera. i really do wish we'd asked that question back in 2001 because had we done that in the same litmus test applied then, we probably wouldn't be in this mess now. but we can't change that. all we can try to do is get rid of the terrorists that we know today and that is isil. listen, his advisers give him the best advice they can. the military leaders give him the war plans. the question becomes, who's with it and what does it take to do

it and will the public go along with it? i don't know the answer to that at this point. >> ron, interestingly, senator rand paul of kentucky voted against this bill, authorizing the aid to the syrian rebels. here's what he had to say. >> we have to defend ourselves from these barbarist jihadists. but it's just a pit stop for weapons on their way to isis. >> let's compare that to what senator paul said a week ago. here's that. >> we need to do everything we can to protect ourselves. i'm all in for saying we have to combat isis. this is an intervention and i don't always support intervention. but this is one i do support. >> is the senator trying to have it both ways? is he an isolationist or not? >> i think he's an isolationist. but it's such a complex situation of if we arm these folks, if we give these folks the materials that they believe

are necessary to combat isis, how do we know that they're not going to otherwise turn around and then be an enemy of the united states? if you look at what isis has been able to do for the last several months, they've taken material, arms that we left with the iraqi army and they're using it to take a swath of territory about 35,000 square miles, about the size of jordan. now they're an enemy of the united states. if we give these folks arms and armament is that to our betterment or detriment? >> jimmy, let's talk about what "the washington post" said. "many rank-and-file democrats who did support obama said they expect a broad debate in november and december after the midterm elections so that legislation can be approved to place broad constraints on the u.s. military to carry out the operation and set a specific deadline for the mission's end. what kind of problem does this pose for the president? >> rich that they decided to

take a vote the day before they left to go for vacation. and then they're going to come back and debate that in lame duck. i hate to break the news, congress will do anything else on this after the vote they just took two days ago, ain't going to happen unless something blows up big-time in the middle east. they've taken their vote. they're all scared to death. and frankly -- listen, congress has a job. they fund the war. obama has a job, to drop the bombs. it's just that simple. if congress wants to actually have a debate about something, they can debate the money and that's pretty much it. >> i'm afraid that's going to be it for the three of us. ron, jimmy, good to see you. up next, renowned attorney alan dershowitz joins me to talk about the challenge of fighting terrorism in the u.s. while preserving privacy. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman,

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measures in mass transit sites in new york and its suburbs. governor cuomo says he's doing so because of the potential of increased threats from turmoil overseas. >> as a precaution, they're very concerned, a lot of terrorism experts say they have not seen this kind of chatter since pre-9/11. so they're worried. >> the governor says even though there are no current credible threats, the city should be on high alert. in the age of credible threats and high alert, a debate rages about how democracies can protect their citizens without robbing them of their rights. joining me now is alan dershowitz who seeks to answer the question of civil liberties and terrorism in a new series of columns in "the boston globe" as well as his latest e-book, "terror tunnels, the case for israel's just war against hamas." welcome. congratulations on the book. thank you for being here. >> thank you. amazing, e-books are amazing. i finished writing it last thursday. and by monday, it was zooming up the amazon bestseller list.

>> for you, we would expect that. let's talk about this, the key question that america's been debating for 13 years now. safety at what cost. address that. is there ever a clear line to be drawn between keeping the majority of people safe and individual privacy rights? >> the reason our constitution has survived longer than any constitution is it's adaptable. and it has to adapt to the new threats of terrorism. we have to make some changes. we can't be operating as if we're still in the 18th or 19th century. and so i don't think we have to compromise our rights. i think we have to adapt them to the new realities. we may have to keep people confined in detention, even though we can't give them all the full due process right ifs they're bragging they're going to go back and commit acts of terrorism. we may have to control passports a little more than we have in the past. if people are going to go train to come back to the united states to blow up times square. in my book, i mentioned that

justice brennan a long time ago went to israel. when he came back, he said, there's only one country we can learn how to balance civil liberties, israel's been doing it for 50 years and doing it well. particularly isis is now emulating hamas. so we have to learn also how to fight that kind of terrorism without compromising our liberty. >> the prospect of using human shields, you talked about that. that's exactly what was happening in gaza with hamas. talk about the difficulties of understanding where the lines are drawn there. >> isis is going to embed its fighters among civilians because it will emulate hamas' dead baby strategy. hamas puts israel to the terrible choice, either allow our rockets to kill your civilians, allow our tunnels to kill our civilians or kill our babies. they're hiding their soldiers among civilians in urban areas. and we have to choose whether not to fire at them or to fire

at them knowing there will be some civilian casualties. >> in terms of firing, the targeted killings now, is that something of a preferred method of going about assassination -- >> the best method -- if you can really target the leaders and not kill civilians instead of blanket carpet bombing, if you can isolate who the leaders are, who the terrorists are and you can get them, targeted killing is so much better than untargeted killing. and yet israel gets condemned for sure doing it. the united states will be condemned for doing it. one of the big red herrings is we killed an american citizen. big deal when an american citizen becomes a combatant on the other side like many did in germany and in japan during the second world war, they lose their special status as american citizens. they're just combatants and we're entitled to go after them. >> to the point of not allowing those who go over to the middle east reportedly to train to reenter the country, what are your thoughts on that? >> we should make it a crime to go 500 isis fighters with

eu passports who can easily come into the united states. we have to adapt the law to the new realities. >> do you think it is possible to approach these debates, sir, without emotions inherently becoming involved in them? attached to things like terrorism, privacy, religious beliefs and freedom? >> there's no way. these are highly emotional issues. take the issue of torture i write about in my book and the column. should we ever under any circumstances use torture? my answer is no. if we're going to use it, we better have procedures in place so that no low level agent can do it without the approval of the highest authority in the united states. >> i could talk to you forever. my producer is telling me i have to go. i'm actually going to take issue with him later. alan dershowitz, thank you so much. i want to plug again your new

e-book, terror tunnels, the case for israel's just war against hamas. going a year without using your smartphone or going on the internet? yeah right, no way. a self-confessed text addict goes cold turkey. he's going to tiff e tell us about it next. p-ny. an unprecedented program that partners businesses with universities across the state. for better access to talent, cutting edge research, and state of the art facilities. and you pay no taxes for ten years. from biotech in brooklyn, to next gen energy in binghamton, to manufacturing in buffalo... startup-ny has new businesses popping up across the state. see how startup-ny can help your business grow at startup.ny.gov watch this. sam always gives you the good news in person, bad news in email. good news -- fedex has flat rate shipping. it's called fedex one rate. and it's affordable. sounds great. [ cell phone typing ] [ typing continues ]

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in this age of 24-hour news, social media and constant e-mail, it's easy to get burned out by the daily obligation of the internet. have you ever wondered what it would be like to just unplug? one online blogger decided to do just that going on a digital detox for an entire year. and what he recovered just might inspire some followers. joining me now, david roberts. you survived. you unplugged. how'd you manage it, david? >> well, it's not that hard, alex, to be honest. i mean, you pull the plug and it's off. the hard part is adjusting your mind and your body to different rhythms to not having pings in your face every few seconds.

>> yeah. you talk about yoga, how'd that go for you? >> well, i'm not the yoga-type to be honest. but honestly, you know, spent years and years getting wound up, going faster and faster, having my brain buzzing and popping. and i needed something to help me slow down. it's not easy to do it on your own. that's the benefit of yoga. you go in the room and they force you to slow down and bring your attention back to your breath. and you need some help with that at the beginning. >> david, here's the deal, you're a blogger. you must live on the internet nearly 24/7. so in a good-bye blog you wrote about two weeks or so before you started this break from the internet, here's what you said. i'm never disconnected, it's doing things to my brain i think in tweets now, my hands twitch if i'm away from my phone for more than 30 seconds. i feel the need to comment on everything, to have a take, preferably a smart take. and i'm going to guess there are a lot of people wlo can relate to that.

what kind of wisdom can you impart to all the rest of white house are still tethered to our smartphones? >> well, i didn't discover anything that isn't already well-known. but, you know, the mind -- your mind is just like your body. it needs a varied diet. and if you spend all your time doing one kind of thing, which is this sort of popcorn bouncing around gathering information that you do online, you need to feed your mind other kind of activities too. slower things so your mind can stitch all that information together and move it into long-term memory. and stitch it into a world view. if you never allow your mind any time to relax, let your subconscious do this deeper work, you end up knowing a lot but very shallowly. and, you know, there's a lot of knowledge but no wisdom. >> yeah. david, how did you get your information? >> when i was offline? >> uh-huh. >> well, i'll be honest, most of what i did is cut off social media. so i went very quiet. i didn't blog anything or tweet anything or facebook anything. but i did sneak online

occasionally to read the news. the funny thing about news, alex, is if something big enough to be truly significant happens, it has a way of finding you. and what you find out is that most of what happens in a given 24-hour news cycle really doesn't matter that much. >> okay. well, david roberts, absolutely fascinating. i loved reading all your opinions on this. you did well. thank you for joining us and sharing it. thanks. >> thank you, alex. >> that's a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you back here tomorrow. up next, betty.

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here we go, here we go, here we go. ♪ fifty omaha set hut ♪ losing feeling in my toes ♪ ♪ nothing beats that new car smell ♪ ♪ chicken parm you taste so good ♪ ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm white house intruder, serious security questions this afternoon after a man scales a fence, runs across the lawn and through the doors of the white house. a live report from the north lawn. escape from isis, how the turkish government managed to free 49 diplomats from isis government and what that means for the prisoners currently in their hands. the manhunt happening right