century-long records are falling. we start on capitol hill where the house and senate are holding elections today to choose who will lead each party in the 114th congress beginning in january. nbc's luke russert joins me live from capitol hill. luke, surprise me. any changes to the leadership in either party? >> reporter: well, i think the biggest surprise, joy, will be on the democratic side. elizabeth warren, senator from massachusetts, very popular with the liberal base of the democratic party, will assume a leadership role we are told, one that will be newly created for her. it's essentially to try and talk about policy, mold policy, and get that policy out in the field. probably have more of a media role than she's had so far. she doesn't necessarily grant a lot of interviews. she's not out there on the circuit. perhaps that could change in the coming years, but a lot of progressives obviously thrilled about that. harry reid will now become the minority leader. faced a little opposition, namely from claire mccaskill, joe manchin, who red state democrats who felt they were not

being listened to enough but for the most part that stays the same over there. on the republican side, no surprise, mitch mcconnell will be the next majority leader. they had an election where no one had to cast a ballot. he was unanimously approved. there was no awkwardness there. and then on the house side, a few feet away from me, house speaker john boehner is expected to be re-elected. no real surprises there. so i guess the big news would be elizabeth warren ascending into the leadership in a newly created role. that's what we expect to see, joy. >> yeah. i wonder if mitch mcconnell had to go to the senate infirmary to detach the smile. i'm sure he was exceedingly joyful to get that new role. let's go to the house side and talk about keystone which apparently is coming sooner rather than later. what do you know about that? >> reporter: right now the keystone vote today in the house of representatives, the legislation is being sponsored by bill cassidy, who interestingly enough is the representative running against mary landrieu in the state of

louisiana. this is something that mary landrieu wanted to see move forward. some folks see this as sort of a hail mary, if you will, on her part to try and win that seat in a special election runoff. but what's interesting, joy, i spoke to some gop leadership aides and they were laughing about this saying this is incredible. harry reid is willing to throw all these environmentalists under the bus for this last-ditch attempt appeal to try to get keystone through. it will pass through the house today, no doubt. it will be interesting to see whether or not mary landrieu tomorrow can get enough senate democrats to support it. i mean, she's going to have to get to 60. it's not a slam dunk by any means. >> harry reid throwing shade at democrats. it's palace intrigue at its finest. msnbc's luke russert. thank you very much. let's get to the white house where it appears president obama is getting closer to a decision on what executive actions he'll take on immigration. nbc's peter alexander is following the latest from our

washington newsroom. what do we know about this potential white house time line? >> joy, to be very clear, white house aides say president obama is, in the words of josh earnest, nearing a final decision on which executive actions he will take. they insist he still hasn't made up his mind or received final recommendations from his top advisers. that's expected to happen when he returns from asia. we're expected to hear from this president by the end of this year. by some reports as early as this week. here is what we've just been learning. "the new york times" is reporting the president will announce a broad overhaul of the immigration enforcement system specifically that would protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation and would provide many of them with work permits as well. of course, immigration reform advocates want the president to extend the protections for the undocumented immigrants who came as children and their parents. we heard from eric holder reiterating the absence of

congressional actions means the president is prepared to use his executive power. politically, you just heard from the hill, republicans aren't backing down on this issue either. mitch mcconnell calling any such move a poison pill. more than 50 house republicans, most of them conservatives, they have signed a letter pushing basically for some language to be attached to the spending bill, the cr next month, that would basically limit the president's ability to loosen immigration rules. joy? >> all right. nbc's peter alexander. thank you very much. today in missouri meanwhile the pathologist hired by the family of slain teenager michael brown to perform a private autopsy is testifying in front of the grand jury. >> he was able to confirm along with review of some of the materials from the medical examiner's office that there was an additional entry wound into his chest. it was not a re-entry wound. and to that end that would be the only thing that we get into

to the substance of his testimony because that is going to be for the grand jury's consideration. >> msnbc's tremain lee has been covering events in ferguson. we now have dr. baden testifying. is there any reporting that you can tell us on whether or not he is the final witness or whether there's more to come in that grand jury? >> not just yet. the thought is that dr. baden is the last or among the last which took two week for the grand jury to decide they wanted to speak with him. but, again, as we're in the waning days and he may very well be the last witness the grand jury hears from, anxiety, tension, and anticipation continues to build. everyone is wondering when will an announcement come down? with dr. baden's testimony, it could be critical. as benjamin crump mentioned earlier, there appears to be from his gleaning of his autopsy report, that there may be an additional entry wound. and also there's been some sort

of disparity between where michael brown was in relation to darren wilson's gun. the grand jury is likely hearing much of that testimony as we speak. >> does that additional information raise among people that you're talking to, activists on the ground there and in ferguson, any hope or any change in people's seeming rather sort of sense that they don't really feel that hopeful that there's going to be an indictment or do you think that's changing? >> reporter: here on the ground i think we're well beyond the point of people hoping that there's an indictment. there's an overwhelming sense there will not be an indictment. like so much in this cloud of rumor and speculation, folks don't know what to believe, so everyone is kind of hunkering down just preparing for whatever the announcement the grand jury will announce in the coming days. >> we'll be watching. thank you very much. and coming up in a few minutes, i will speak with the brown family's attorney, anthony gray, as well as dr. cyril wecht. we have right now a reid alert for new the fight against isis. in a newly released audio

message, the terrorist group's leader al baghdadi is heard for the first time since speculation that he had been wounded in a u.s. air strike in iraq. in the 17-minute recording he called on his followers to fight to the last man. it's not clear if the recording was made before or after he was allegedly injured. let's go to the topic on your mind, the cold, and the winter storm sending temperatures plum nmetingplumme. some cities are seeing as much as a 40 degree fahrenheit drop in one day. the weather channel's reynolds wolf is tracking the latest from the mile high city. >> reporter: well, joy, the big story we've had in the mile high city has got to be the low, low temperatures. we felt a minus 14 degrees at the airport, which is stagger in its own right. then you bring in the windchill where it's even more staggering. minus 32 is what it felt like. today we will see temperatures on the upswing going to 16 degrees which is well short of

the high we should have for this time of year which should be nestled right into the 50s. but we're going to stay below average all the way through the weekend. my see some spits of snowfall, heavy snowfall we've had in this area has actually been farther back out towards the west in breckenridge. up in the mountains they had a foot of snowfall. well, that's the latest we've got, joy. let's send it right back to you in the studio. >> all right, reynolds wolf in denver. thank you very much. after the break, we'll go back to missouri. anthony gray, an attorney representing michael brown's family, we'll have more on the grand jury testimony and how city and state leaders are getting prepared. plus, more on the fight over immigration as the president prepares to take executive action on that very subject. [ kevin ] this is connolly, cameron, zach, and clementine. we have a serious hairball issue. we clean it up, turn around, and there it is again. it's scary. little bit in my eye. [ michelle ] underneath the kitchen table, underneath my work desk, we've got enough to knit a sweater. [ doorbell rings ] zach, what is that?

the swiffer sweeper. the swiffer dusters. it's some sort of magic cloth that sucks in all the dog hair. it's quick and easy. pretty amazing that it picked it all up. i would totally take on another dog. [ kevin ] really? ♪ [ kevin ] really? ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today. i lost my sight in afghanistan, but it doesn't hold me back. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. non-24 is a circadian rhythm disorder

that affects up to 70% of people who are totally blind. talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com. which means it's time thfor the volkswagens here, sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the well-crafted all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. yeah, citi mobile. pay the dog sitter?

and deposit that check? citi mobile. pack your bathing suit? wearing it. niiice bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. female narrator: it's posturepedic versus beautyrest it's posturepedic versus beautyrest with up to $400 off. serta icomfort and tempur-pedic go head-to-head with three years' interest-free financing. mattress price wars are on now at sleep train. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

as grand jurors in the michael brown case heard what could be the final piece of forensic testimony today, the call for justice in brown's name continued across the globe today. one day after brown's parents testified before a u.n. committee against torture and other forms of inhumane punishment while in geneva, activists there were photographed holding up pictures of michael brown and raising their fists in an iconic symbol of justice, empowerment, and solidari solidarity. outside the st. louis county courthouse today, brown family attorney ben crump addressed questions about whether or not brown's hands were, in fact, up. >> there is evidence that shows michael brown had his hands up, yes. no doubt about that. and that is not in regards to his testimony. that is in regards to what we know based on our review all the

opinions, his and others. >> and forensic evidence as well. >> yes, absolutely, forensic evidence. and dr. baden is basing his testimony on science and nothing more. >> dr. cyril wecht is a forensic pathologist who has been a consultant in several high profile cases. thank you for being here. >> nice to be here. >> i want to start with the question of whether forensic pathology is definitively determine the position of this young man's hands at the time he was shot knowing where the injuries were on the inside of his arms? >> i believe in this case, joy, we can certainly reconstruct things to a definitive degree. that doesn't mean that it's absolutely final. it doesn't mean that other people can't come up with other interpretations, but let me just tell you that we've got these eight gunshot wounds, two in the head, two in the chest, three in the arm, and one on the thumb.

you have the arm wounds. i'm going to do it the way i think things moved along in sequential case. it enters the back of the forearm and exits on the front ventral surface. the wound in the upper arm enters in the front surface and exitins in the back. hold your right arm up as we speak. if you have your arm up, that will explain that the wound comes in the forearm in this fashion and exits in the front and the wound in the upper arm enters in the front. that's a position like this, and they move slightly rear of leftward which means that the shooting from officer wilson came somewhat in front of michael brown. now then, you've got two chest wounds. one wound is higher up to the

right of the midline and the other one is somewhat more lateral also on the right chest. both of those wounds have a slightly downward trajectory. michael brown was measured by the medical examiner as 77 inches. that's 6'5". the officer is 6'0", 6'1". both of those wounds with a downward trajectory could not have been inflicted with michael brown standing. the officer is standing and shooting at michael brown. that means michael brown has to be already somewhat forward in order for the bullet to go in and then when you do the autopsy and the body is laid out, it has a downward trajectory. when you have a tangential wound to the right biceps. you can't tell anything from that. then you have the two wounds to the head, one on top of the head and that goes straight down, recovered in the soft issues of the face on the right side, and then the other wound essentially o plib rabliterating the right .

that goes straight down and exits the right jaw. with someone 6'5", the only way it could have been inflicted is with michael brown to be bent over totally so the upper part of his body was parallel to the ground and the shots going in. now, put it all together. you've got boom, boom, shots, three of them actually, including the tangential wound. the shots like this, and those shots go somewhat upward which means his arm was like this and the officer is shooting and the bullets then go somewhat upward because the arm is here and he's falling down and then the shots go into the chest and they're somewhat downward. he keeps falling down more and the shots go into the head and now he's already down and then, of course -- >> the final shot. >> he falls into a prone position. he has abrasions on the right side of his face and body. it all fits in. >> let me ask you one quick question because there's two ways to interpret that and two people who are either --

depending which side of the case they believe they fall on. are those wounds that you described in that trajectories described more consistent with falling as these shots are happening or with running while these shots are happening because that is what people who are defenders of the officer is saying, well, he was obviously bent down to charge at the officer. >> well, i think more consistent with falling. why? because i don't think that one would be running aggressively toward a police officer with a gun with his arm up like this. i haven't been in that position or engaged in that endeavor for a while, but i think if i were charging, i'm going to charge like a bull, especially if i'm 280 pounds and i'm 6'5". i'm not going to be running at him with my arm in this position. >> one last question quickly, what about the question of the distance between the officer and michael brown? how important is that and can we tell anything by that with the forensic evidence? >> all the shots i have referred to were fired at a distance

beyond a couple feet. you cannot be more specific than that in the absence of stippling, gunpowder residue, you cannot then tell with a handgun the distance from which the shots were fired. the other shot that we haven't mentioned is the shot of the thumb and that one does appear to have been shot at close range, some gunpowder residue was found and a piece of michael brown's skin was found on the car. there's no question that that shot had to have been fired at the car, something took place there. that's going to be a key issue that may determine the way this grand jury goes. was there an altercation? i don't think that it should determine which way the grand jury occurs because even if it is argued that michael brown was fighting with the policeman, you have all the other shots that take place after that, and he is some distance from the police officer, and he is in the position that i have talked about. there is really nothing directly to do in so far as the -- >> with the first shots.

>> the validity, the necessity of police officer wilson shooting all those shots once the altercation at the car has occurred. >> thank you very much for your expertise, dr. cyril wecht. appreciate it. joining me now is anthony gray, one of the attorneys representing michael brown's family. thank you, attorney gray. appreciate you being here. >> thank you. thank you for having me. >> the family has had the opportunity to have the forensic pathologist who they chose to do an autopsy on their son testify before the grand jury. what was the family's feeling about the importance of that happening and does it make them feel hopeful? we did have the news conference earlier today and heard that the family is praying for a news conference per the news conference you held earlier today. >> that give them some sense of hope at least a grand jury will hear forensic system from a world renowned forensic pathologist.

his talents are unquestionable. they have the ultimate faith in his findings, and they're happy and they're grateful he came here on such short notice and that the prosecutor's office offered him the invitation to come and testify before the grand jury, and they're comfortable with that entire sequence of events. >> and when you hear -- i don't know if you were able to hear dr. cyril wecht -- >> i did. >> and when he describes what in his mind at least is very definitive sort of evidence that you can glean from the forensics about the position of michael brown, about his hands being raised, about him falling, not running. when you hear evidence like that, why do you suppose that people are so cynical about the outcome in this case because i think when we've talked to reporters on the ground including our own trymaine lee, he reports people are very cynical about the possibility of an indictment. >> because they're operating off of their feelings, their general emotion and attitudes towards certain people, so they come to the table with a cynical view.

>> when you say certain people, do you mean the prosecutor, bob mccollough? >> not necessarily the prosecutor but members of our population and members of the community just simply give the benefit of the doubt to the police. and whatever theory that an officer may come up with, we have a natural inclination to want to believe it because they protect and they serve us. so that brings about it with a natural-born cynicism when somebody tries to challenge our inherent beliefs about our officers. so, yeah, they're going to always have that. always hold those cynical views until the very end of this situation. >> all right. anthony gray, thank you very much for being here. we appreciate it. >> okay. >> and coming up, we consider the russian factor in president obama's foreign policy strategy. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

[ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. we appreciate it. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® campbell's healthy request. a woman who loves to share her passions. grandma! mary has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts her at a greater risk of stroke. rome? sure! before xarelto®, mary took warfarin, which required monthly trips to get her blood tested. but that's history. back to the museum? not this time! now that her doctor switched her to once-a-day xarelto®, mary can leave those monthly trips behind. domestic flight? not today! like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require regular blood monitoring. so mary is free of that monitoring routine. for patients currently well managed on warfarin,

there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. spinach? grazie! plus, with no known dietary restrictions, mary can eat the healthy foods she likes. don't stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. while taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. switching to xarelto® was the right move for mary. ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®.

no regular blood monitoring; no known dietary restrictions. for information and savings options download the xarelto® patient center app, call 1-888-xarelto, or visit goxarelto.com alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? aleve, proven better on pain. ["mony mony" by billy idole she cokicks in on car stereo]y". ♪don't stop now come on mony♪ ♪come on yeah ♪i say yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪'cause you make me feel like a pony♪ ♪so good ♪like your pony ♪so good ♪ride the pony the sentra, with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. [singing] ♪mony mony

it is indeed time for we the tweeple. you're captivated by the philae lander. it sent back this cool image today. you can't stop tweeting about how philea seen from the perspective of rosetta bounced two times before landing off target in the first ever comet landing yesterday. its twitter account shows its in good spirits as it live tweets its journey, but the little probe that could have in kind of a spot that makes it difficult to recharge its solar batteries. it's not properly anchored, and yet it continues on its mission gathering data from over 300 million miles away and one of its first transmissions is this recording of the song emitted by the comet.

catchy. could use a little bass but not bad. you're calling these discoveries astonishing and mind blowing. and now to kim kardashian. her risque images for "paper" are her latest attempts to break the internet. this cover is the only image we can actually show you from the shoot even though we're on cable. another shows her bare buttocks. new pictures released today show mrs. kanye west and baby north's mama totally nude. it has you tweeting, oh, god, seriously. now i have to see kardashian's naked front too. internet, you're letting me down. #fixtheinternet. you're trying to cleanse your eyes. at buzz feed they snapped regular people recreating her provocative poses to hilarious effect. you all the backlash has you tweeted

fix the internet has me very, very happy. you can break the internet, fix it or not, just join the conversation at msnbc.com. we'll be back. americans drink 48 billion bottles of water every year. that's enough plastic bottles to stretch around the earth 230 times.

each brita filter can replace 300 of those. clean. clear. brita water. nothing is better.

we've always been on the forefront of innovation. when the world called for speed... ♪ ...when the world called for stealth... ♪ ...intelligence... endurance... affordability... adaptability...

and when the world asked for the future. staying ahead in a constantly evolving world. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. as president obama meets leaders in myanmar, previously known as burma, today, trying to balance support for the country's burgeoning democratic movement with concern over its treatment of a muslim mi yort, his attention is also being drawn back to ukraine and the crisis there with russia. kristin welker is traveling with the president and files this report. >> reporter: president obama met with myanmar's president earlier today and delivered a strong message, that he needs to do more to promote democracy here inside his country. the united states and president obama have a lot at stake. the u.s. has invested in this country and also hel it up as an example of a burgeoning democracy. >> it was an excellent

discussion about this transition process that's taking place here in myanmar around consolidating some of the gains that have already been made but also pushing further to institute a genuine democracy. >> reporter: joy, one more point, president obama met on the sidelines of the asean summit with rush's prime minister, dmitri medvedev. the official telling me that meeting whas brief. president obama, of course, met with president putin earlier this week when the two were in beijing. they'll have another chance to meet at the g-20 summit in priss ba brisbane, australia. >> nbc's kristin welker traveling with the president in myanmar. adding to the tension over ukraine, russia's defense minister issued the following

provocative statement on wednesday. >> in the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western atlantic and the eastern pacific as well as the caribbean and the gulf of mexico. now, that remark came after a number of high-profile incidents between russia and nato incidents this year including one on june 9th when four nuclear capable bombers flew within 50 miles of the california coast. in fact, a report this week from the european leadership network mapped many of these aggressive counters saying russia is increasingly engaging in dangerous brinksmanship often in areas far removed from ukraine. nina is an associate professor and the great granddaughter of nikita khrushchev. nina, i'm going to start with you. for a lot of americans, that last bit, the caribbean theater operations i guess you could say, and this buzzing off the california coast is the most alarming thing. we think back to what happened

during the cuban missile crisis. what is putin up to? >> very similar to what the cuban missile crisis was all about is that if the american troops and american nuclear capabilities are very close to of what at the time was the soviet border, missiles in turkey, so why wouldn't the soviet union have it in cuba. putin is arguing the same thing. if nato is encroaching on russia's borders, yes, he's going to create brinksmanship. he's really trying to bring it to everybody's attention that he can do it if he is pushed to do it. >> steve, there's also in that kind of a stance that nina describes a certain refusal to accept the reality that what is happening in ukraine is not acceptable to the world, to the western world, to nato, to the united states. i want to play you what ben rhodes had to say about the continued presence of russian troops in ukraine. >> we see continued violations

of that agreement, and in recent days and weeks, more and more russian military support flowing across that border back to the separatists. >> and that is an interview i should mention that our own alex wagner did with ben rhodes, deputy national security adviser and that you can see later on today. talk a little bit about that because the united states is being very definitive about our feelings about what's going on in ukraine but russia isn't responding. >> well, i think we've been definitive to a point. we've been definitive saying this violates ukrainian rights. it violates international norms, but the president has also been very careful to say that we're not going to inject ourselves militarily in this conflict. and so he is creating costs and penalties for russia, but he's not going over a line of saying that this war is our war. and so i think we're returning to an element of nuanced statecraft in the world. i think nina is right that this reminds people of the muscle memory of the cold war in the past. it's not quite there.

russia is just reminding us of things. it's not going to invade other nations per se over here, but it is misbehaving. it's basically saying while we're imposing prices on moscow for its behavior, it's also saying it can impose prices and costs on us. >> and nina, one of the levers that the west has tried to use is to encourage western europe to be more judicious in the way it plays the energy game in russia. russia is a supplier of gas and natural gas to europe. but they have a new deal with china and there are some reports that are saying china got the better end of the deal, that russia maybe didn't make out as well as they thought. but having this other relationship that they can draw on. how much confidence does it give russia and is it helping? >> the economy is suffering tremendously as a result of sanctions and falling oil prices. putin is getting in a very soviet manner, he's getting

bolder when his hand is getting weaker, so he does that. but certainly -- they got the good deal with china in a sense that it's not only about economy, but it's also about saying, look, we don't need the west. we have others. i'm sure you followed -- everybody followed the iranian deals and now russia building the reactors for iran and one of the very firm statements from the russians was the west can not dictate us what to do and what not to do. it goes to what steve was just saying is that if the west can misbehave, we can misbehave, too, and you are no longer an example to us. it doesn't matter if you approve of our behavior. we are strong in our own right. >> to that iran deal specifically, because this comes as at a time when the obama administration wants to change the trajectory of that relationship and try to somehow get a handle on the nuclear ambitions of iran, how destabilizing is it for russia to be in there now building that nuclear reactor? >> well, i think that's a small part of the picture, not a large

part of the picture. i think with russia involved inside iran, russia is also supportive of getting a nuclear arrangement with iran where it doesn't get out a breakout capacity in nuclear weapons. let's raise it up one notch. if the united states and. p-5 plus 1 achieve a nuclear deal with iran, they show the world that the united states can still make a strategic leap and shape the international system. if a deal is not reached, it reinforces the gamble that putin is making, that there's global doubt in the united states and that other great states can fill that void, that america, despite what we feel ourselves, is in strategic contraction. that's what he is muscling along in the way he is. so the iran deal matters in terms of our own identity and the way the united states is perceived far beyond just iran. >> and nina, inside of russia, talk a little bit about the position that putin is in with his own country because even though these sort of blusers outside of the country as you said are there to make him look

strong, is he actually politically strong and in complete command within his own country. >> well, he is certainly strong in a sense that he portrayed strength and somehow russians -- not somehow. throughout our history we're still susceptible to this kind of strength but actually i don't think he's strong precisely because one of these little incursions actually -- he overplays his hand all the time. it worked so far but judging from soviet history how far he can go with it and one of the reasons i think he's escalating back on the ukrainian border and, you know, the military trucks are coming in and troops are going in allegedly as they say is precisely because he's very much dependent on the military industrial complex. he knows as long as they're supporting him, he will stay in the kremlin. the minute they turn away from him, his days are over. >> thank you very much for both of your expertise. >> thank you. now, three things to know on

this thursday. israel will refuse entry to the united nations human rights council which is investigating this summer's conflict in gaza that killed more than 2,000 palestinians mostly civilians along with nearly 70 israelis, mostly soldiers. israel's foreign minister dismissed the investigation as a kangaroo court and said the inquiry was anti-israeli. k police in washington have released a 911 call placed by students and teachers during the deadly shooting at marysville-pilchuck high school more than two weeks ago. >> i am in the cafeteria. i have the shooter. one shooter. blood is everywhere. i do not see the gun. i tried to stop him before he shot himself. i do not know his name. he shot himself. many are down. i do not know how many are down. >> as we now know, that shooter shot five of his friends, including two of his cousins. four of the victims died from their injuries. and in new york,

investigators are looking into what caused a window washing scaffold to collapse 69 levels above street level at one world trade center yesterday. two workers dangled precariously three-quarters of the way up the nation's tallest skyscraper for two hours before being rescued. the company has a history of safety problems. the two washers in yesterday's incident are reportedly doing well after being treated for mild hypothermia. it's time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. mountain brook, alabama, business owner julie howell celebrates live local saturdays. she shows work from area's artists. in town you will see banners and t-shirts reminding residents to shop, dine, play, and love local. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night,nd.

and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24, a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70 percent of people who are totally blind. talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. don't let non-24 get in the way of your pursuit of happiness. ever since we launched snapshot, my life has been positively cray-cray. what's snapshot, you ask? only a revolutionary tool that can save you big-time. just plug it in, and the better you drive, the more cash you'll stash. switching to progressive can already save ye $500. snapshot could save ye even more. meat maiden! bringeth to me thine spiciest wings of buffalo. mountain brook, alabama, msnbc.

ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you have enough money to live life on your terms? i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor.... can get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today.

for the last 24 hours, reports have been swirling that president obama may have a major immigration plan to announce as early as next week. "the new york times" is just the latest to report word of a plan to overhaul u.s. immigration enforcement. in effect, such a move could protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. john boehner and republicans have denounced it in advance and they call it poisoning the well and the dreaded "a" word, amnesty.

several democrats chastised what they called a republican obstruction. >> they're saying to the president, don't use your executive authority. suppose he turned to us and said, don't use your legislative authority? >> to put it another way, it's a little late for the mayor of chernobyl to say he's worried about someone poisoning the well. >> good quote. ferrell reyes is an attorney and an nbc news.com contributor. i'm changing all of your bona fides. i just asked you this off camera, do you think the president is actually going to take a dramatic enforcement action on immigration? >> absolutely. for one thing he has delayed this announcement for so long that the expectations among progressives and obviously the immigration reform movement are so high that there's no backing off now. and i think that there has to be, my personal opinion, some personal frustration that they have let this issue die so long. they have poisoned the well and now they're saying don't do it now because we're about to do

immigration reform which is really ludicrous. >> because they're going to be so much more cooperative in the 114th congress. cue john cornyn from texas who did not have good things to say i'm going to assume. let's take a listen. >> i can't think of anything more discouraging that the president of the united states could do than what senator mcconnell mentioned, and that is threaten to issue this executive amnesty order which disregards the law and the balance of powers and the constitution. >> i have never seen the republicans discouraged. i don't know what that would look like. they seem to always be quite encouraged. disregards the law and the balance 6 powers in washington. you are an attorney. is it illegal or the president to issue executive orders? >> not at all. as a matter of fact, most recently -- remember the summer when we had all the kids coming over the border around the whole border crisis and the president stepped in and said he was going to expedite the removals and provide a certain number of judges and trials to process them and hopefully send them back to their home countries. that was executive action.

some of those same people who are speaking out are the conservatives who wanted that more hardlined a approach back then. it's not just the justifiable part of immigration law. it's pretty much necessary. it's pretty much inevitable. you can go as far back as 1956, eisenhower took executive action on immigration. during the 1960s the presidents used executive action to bring something like 600,000 cubans to the united states. >> the mariel boat lift was done by executive action. >> george w. bush used it for liberians. we have used it for different types of people to provide for humanitarian relief and also to provide relief from deportations. it is very much there on the historical record. >> and so there has been this sort of metanarrative if the president were to do this that impeachment would be the punishment. that's been a big narrative over

in conservative media that's been feeding a lot of the anti-immigrant sentiment. john boehner told "the washington post" that he told his conference after that big meeting, the come to jesus meteding they had together with the white house, i told the president last week directly you proceed with executive amnesty, their new term, not only can you forget about getting immigration reform during your presidency, you can also expect to jeopardize other issues as withal. we don't know exactly when dole or how he'll do it, but we will fight it. there hasn't been any major legislation enacted since the lame duck session of 2010. what things are going to get through the house that are now not? >> i don't know. when i look at the situation what i see is all these republicans now taking a sudden interest apparently in immigration reform. it's all positioning so they can say that right now they are interested in doing an immigration reform and when president obama takes his executive action, that will be their new excuse for not doing it. but the whole question of impeachment, that is a very

risky game that they're playing because something like impeachment with these republicans in the house, the tea party groups, once you get that ball rolling, it might be very hard to stop, and number one, that could backfire on them in the sense it could give democrats advantage going into 2016. that would definitely enrage latino voters and boom ring on the republicans in 2016. also the legal basis for doing that is not sound. it's pretty much an airtight case he does have the power to give relief from deportation. not amnesty. >> very quickly, would it have made more sense for the white house to have done this before the election? >> yes, absolutely yes. it might have helped democrats in colorado and it certainly would have helped in terms of motivating latino voters to show up at the midterms which they typically do not do. i'd say yes. >> paul reyes, thank you very much. in a programming note for you, tomorrow on "the reid report" i will take with the

iranian/canadian journalist who sent time in an iranian jail and whose story is featured in "rosewater." >> did you wake up in jordan the first day of shooting and think to yourself, i don't know what i'm doing? >> that's pretty much how i wake up generally, so it wasn't that different to do it? jordan. ju >> you can catch the entire interview on "all in with chris hayes" at 8:00 eastern on msnbc. ♪don't stop now come on mony♪ interview on "all in with chris hayes" at 8:00 eastern on msnbc. ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪'cause you make me feel like a pony♪ ♪so good ♪like your pony ♪so good ♪ride the pony the sentra, with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites.

[singing] ♪mony mony hard it can be...how ...to breathe with copd? it can feel like this. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled... ...copd maintenance treatment... ...that helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells,... you can get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. sfx: blowing sound. does breathing with copd... ...weigh you down? don't wait ask your doctor about

spiriva handihaler. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know genies can be really literal? no. what is your wish? no...ok...a million bucks! oh no... geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. oh chris, did you remember to pay the dog sitter? oh, i knew i forgot something. i'll just do it now. well, we're boarding. no, i'll use citi mobile. it takes two seconds, better safe than sorry, right? yeah, who knows if we'll even get service on the island? what! no service? seriously? you guys might actually have to talk. to each other? we do it all the time. i like it. should we? no. bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. to learn more, visit citi.com/easierbanking

for the next 51 days and about 10 hours democrats will control the united states senate with 53 votes plus 2 independents. after that the parties switch places with republicans having at least 53 seats and maybe one more depending on the outcome of the louisiana runoff for mary landrieu's seat. a lot is being made about what the new republican majority will

do with its newly acquired power neck year. pass the house's 50 somethingth appeal of obamacare. a federal abortion agenda. the immediate question is what will the democrats do with the power they still have? the last time democrats found themselves in this position after the republican wave midterm of 2010, they went into the lame duck session with a bold strategy. best summed up as most things are by a scene from "the lord of the rings." >> hold your ground! hold your ground! the day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellow ship. there is not this day, this day we fight. >> this day we fight! as steve bennett points out, in that lame duck session congress led by nancy pelosi and harry reid, they repealed the don't

ask, don't tell policy, ratified the new start treaty, passed a middle class tax cut extension, approved a bill providing health coverage to 9/11 first responders, passed the most sweeping food safety bill in 70 years, confirmed some judicial nominees and passed the defense authorization bill. now, this time the democrats are being less ambitious. senator reid will include a couple of nods to the liberal base in the lame duck including elevating elizabeth warren to a vaguely defined leadership position and scheduling a vote on reforming the nsa. democrats will not confirm the president's attorney general nominee, lor ret etta lynch. instead, we could see a vote on an item of particular interest to republicans and their friends in big oil, the keystone pipeline which red state democrats presumably believe will also help mary landrieu keep her seat. it's not clear why democrats

think they would get the credit for keystone from the kind of voters who want more oil drilling, people who generally aren't democrats but there you go. now, watching the two major parties in washington, it's long been clear that they view the exercise of political power, whether through the majority or through the minority, very differently. for six years while in the senate minority, republicans have fur sued a strategy of grinding the federal government to a halt, even dragging down their own approval ratings and america's credit rating and shutting down the government. in a zero sum bid to discredit everything the democratic president touched. and then reaping the rewards in low turnout midterms. it was a bold political gamble with a single goal, taking power. democrats with a notable exception of the parliamentary maneuver that passed the affordable care act and that 2010 "lord of the rings" lame duck tend to be more one man's

risk averse is another man's timid. one of those strategies has been really, really effective. and that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here at 2:00 p.m. eastern and visit us online. you know what time it is. you know because look all around me. "the cycle" is coming. what do you have going on today? >> hey, joy. we have a special guest at the top of the hour, someone that might know a thing or two about sitting across the table with chinese leader. my dad jon huntsman. i don't know how we got him. we're thrilled to have him. >> how did you ever get that booking? >> i don't know but we're very excited. there's big news on immigration. i will be ranting on how quickly things can change in politics. it seems two years ago we were talking about how republicans can never win again. obviously last tuesday told us a different story. what will republicans do with that power, joy? >> they probably won't be listening to your dad, abby. that's probably part of the

problem. requesti "the cycle" comes up next. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® campbell'sugh...hy request. ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future.you. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. well, i drove grandpa to speed dating this week, so i should probably get the last roll. dad, but i practiced my bassoon. and i listened. i can do this. everyone deserves ooey gooey pillsbury cinnamon rolls. make the weekend pop!

this is the equivalent of the and this is one soda a day over an average adult lifetime. but there's a better choice. drink more brita water. clean, refreshing, brita. i used to think a to kimouthwash had to burn.uth, then i went pro with crest pro-health mouthwash. it's scientifically proven to kill 99% of germs so you move to a healthier mouth from day one. no pain. all gain. go pro with crest pro-health.

coming up, with president obama's big pivot to asia, his former ambassador to china, former presidential candidate, and yes, of course, my father, governor jon huntsman, is with us live. good. i'm abby huntsman. as we come on the air, president obama is getting some shut eye in myanmar on an overseas trip that has awakened both praise and criticism of his foreign policy. nbc's kristin welker is traveling with the president. >> president obama met with mayan mar's president earlier today and delivered a strong message he needs to do more to promote a democratic transition inside this country. the u.s. has a lot at stake here. it has not only invested in myanmar, it's also held it up as an example of a burgeoning democracy. >> in addition to his time with the president of myanmar, president obama met with the opposition leader who is also a nobel laureate.