due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen. "lockup raw." in prison it's said you can do the time or let the time do you. >> i went ballistic, insane. >> we've got guys here 17, 18, their puberty is just now coming.

they have a lost tension, they have a lot of energy and they've been locked up since they were 15. that's frustrating these dudes. >> on a good day, too much idle time can invite mischief. >> there is a lot of sex in prison. >> they masturbate, curse you out, call you names. >> idle hands is the devil's playground. >> on a bad day too much time can lead to demand. >> i'm making a weapon right now. i'm melting the plastic down into a shape. >> there was a slashing over in badger section. involved hispanics. >> i got into an altercation with my bunky. i ended up stabbing him. >> i found two razors and these can be melted into a real good slashing instrument. >> it's aggressive. it's dangerous. it's violent. >> from the day i stepped in here, i've been looking for a way out. >> the inmates that are here, they're not here for going to church.

at kentucky state penitentiary, some inmates can apprentice in an auto body shop. at rikers island jail, a bakery churns out nearly 90,000 loaves of bread per week while teaching inmates how to bake. in many of the prisons profiled on "lockup," inmates have opportunities to learn skills that can help them find work on the outside. but all too many spend their time honing skills more suitable to mayhem and murder. >> i stabbed an inmate 12 times over some dope in front of the chow hall. >> i took a knife and stabbed him with it three or four times until he was dead. and then i butchered him with it.

>> you find a piece of metal or something, file it down on the concrete. it ain't got to be sharp, it's just got to have a point. put your handle on it and do what you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> every prison we film in, there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all of the weapons that are confiscated by staff. homemade weapons the inmates have made from bed springs or melted down plastic. they're truly ingenious but deadly as well. >> at california's san quentin state prison, we saw how sophisticated some inmate weaponry can be. this homemade pistol is known as a zip gun. >> this portion is filled with groundup matchups. >> the two holes here, the inmate inserts a wick, inmate takeses a plunger, pokes shrapnel in the open end. pieces of metal, groundup zippers.

when the target walks by the cell, may it be an officer, inmate, the inmate lights this. when it goes down, strikes the match heads, basically acts like a firecracker and shoots the shrapnel out. >> the majority of inmate-manufactured weapons or shanks, designed for slashing and stabbing. the ease and with lethal weapons are made is shocking. this san quentin inmate who goes by the name speedy, agreed to show correctional staff and "lockup" cameras just how simple it can be. he starts by using a roll of toilet paper as a crude forge to melt plastic coffee cup lids. >> i'm making a weapon right now. melting this plastic down into a shape. what i'm dying i'm trying to get a little wad of it to where i have something to work with, you know what i mean? right now what i'm doing, i'm molding.

this is like playing with clay. what i'm doing is, is i got to get it all to this way like here and then once i get it like this -- i'll show you. >> i think it amazes me how fast it can be made and sometimes who's it's used for. sometimes for us. sometimes for another inmate. >> got to have air going to the bottom of this thing or else it will start smoking real bad. i'm letting it get in the cold water because it hardens it, it makes it stronger. all right. and that is what you are trying to come out with. what you do here, put a tip on it right here, sharpen it down on concrete to where you'd have a piece that -- it's actually --

>> just a matter of minutes. this wouldn't even be detected in the metal detector at all. >> no. >> somebody gets to the yard real quick, real quick, use it flush, it get it over with. >> you can throw it into somebody's heart, pop a jugular vein, take an eyeball out, and clear the evidence. >> and then clear the evidence. and your work station's clean. >> there was a slashing over in badger section involved hispanics. the hispanics are now in lockdown, actually they've got the entire badger second on lockdown. >> our crew was at san quentin just hours after an inmate was slashed across the faced with a shank. the attacker was identified and put in administrative segregation for questioning, but now the entire cell block is about to be searched for weapons. >> keep your eyes open. keep your ears open. do your normal cell searches, handle your business and be safe.

>> a large team of correctional officers will search every square inch of their cells. first, all the inmates are removed. first for weapons, then taken out to the yard. >> step over here. >> all right. all right. >> these surprise raids are usually successful in finding weapons. but present a unique challenge for "lockup" crews. >> it is action. it's real action. and the only thing that you have to be careful of you don't want to piss off the cell block. you kind of run the risk of alienating the very guys you're trying to extract stories and cooperation from. we always hope, if there is going to be a raid, that it's toward the end of our tour at the prison.

>> but tv crew concerns are the last thing on the minds of these officers. what they uncover can be the difference between life and death. >> it's an old joint. you can hide stuff anywhere, like at the i-beams, i'm going to check these, it's just a beam, you walk under it every day, but somebody's walking to the chow hall and a lot of guys know where it is but they're not going to tell because they don't want to get killed. they don't want to get hurt for ratting. >> a short time later officer hamilton and his partner, officer mcgee, make a hit. >> i found two razors that were removed, the blades removed from the disposable razor and these can be melted into a toothbrush handle, used as slashing instruments because those are solid, very sharp razors right there. and it looks like my partner's found another one. >> inmates who make the weapons often claim they're only for self-defense, but actions

usually bear a different reality. >> take this, roll up a bunch of newspapers, even thicker than this, you got a good spear. we had a good sergeant killed here about 15 years ago. spear made out of that stuff. with a good, sharp point put on it. >> here's an even better one. you can see, this is only rolled up newspaper and rope tied around and how hard that is. if you wanted to put a bed spring right in there and tie it off, it would make an excellent stabbing instrument. you wouldn't think that a rolled up newspaper or magazine would make that qualify a handle, but it does. >> don't show this -- don't show this film to the dumb inmates. we don't want to teach them anything that they don't know. next on "lockup raw" -- >> one prisoner's attempt to deal with sexually frustrated inmates all too willing to cross the line. >> indecent exposure is one of the major disciplinary problems.

>> when you walk in here, they'll try to deliberately hold you at their cell while the guy across masturbates. y friend area master of diversification. who would have thought three cheese lasagna would go with chocolate cake and ceviche? the same guy who thought that small caps and bond funds would go with a merging markets. it's a masterpiece. thanks. clearly you are type e. you made it phil. welcome home. now what's our strategy with the fondue? diversifying your portfolio? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*?

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. ♪ let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together ♪ ♪ i've got some real estate here in my bag ♪

♪ it took me four days to hitch-hike from saginaw ♪ ♪ "i've come to look for america" ♪ which means it's time for the volkswagen 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 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. hurry in and get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. from san francisco to silicon valley, boston private bank works with all kinds of people who are innovating, building, contributing -- individuals, business owners, private partnerships, non-profits, families planning their financial futures. people like you. if you want the individual attention and expertise

your financial needs deserve, this is your time. this is your private bank. for some inmates the difference between staying out of trouble or facing disciplinary action is how well they control their sexual desires. >> you got guys in here, 17, 18, young guys that their puberty is just now coming. they're young. they have a lot of tension. they have a lot of energy. and they've been locked up since they're 15. he ain't seen a woman in two years. he ain't touched a woman in three.

you see what i'm saying? when a woman comes down the hall, don't matter it's a nurse, she can look like a alley bat, it doesn't matter. >> at the home and correctional facility in alabama, we found that inmates had their own method and slang for releasing pent-up sexual tension. >> the prison term for is gun it. when you're masturbate, the guy pulls the wood out and sees a woman that's a mile away and sees the top of her head and he imagines that he's having sexual relations with her and get off on it. >> the female officers are often on the receiving end of this unwanted attention. >> they masturbate. they'll curse you out, call you all types of names or when you walk on the tier, they'll deliberately try to hold you at their cell while the guy across masturbates.

me being a female i see it more than male officers probably. >> the problem is so pervasive, the regulation banning it is known prison wide about. >> rule violation number 38, indecent exposure/exhibitionism. that's the inmate that's masturbating. it was really, really bad when i got here in 1998. i mean, it was horrible. >> indecent exposure is one of our major disciplinary problems. >> when warden grant culliver arrived at holman in 2002, he instituted zero tolerance policy for violations of rule 38. >> a sign of disrespect. and not only disrespect to those officers because they know the environment they're coming into, but you flow it's disrespectful to expose yourself even to the man standing next to you. >> inmate johnson, ivan black, 206812, standing behind the old jail door with half his body showing fully exposed masturbating watching officer bonds. do you understand these charges? >> yes, sir.

>> you wish to plead guilty or not guilty? >> not guilty. >> during our shoot at holman, inmate ivan johnson faced disciplinary hearing for a rule 38 charge. >> i looked up to the main count, j-3 standing at the door with his body halfway behind it and he was fully exposed and he was masturbating. >> i was not exposed nor masturbating watching officer barnes. i stepped outside the old jail with an associate whom i was horse playing with. i never saw miss barnes because my attention was not focused on the officer. but i wasn't disrespecting miss barnes by exposing myself or masturbating or watching her. >> johnson, however, is no stranger to rule 38. >> he's got 39 disciplinaries total in his file. many of those disciplinaries are for a violation of rule 38, indecent exposure. he has a history of it. >> despite his denial, johnson is quickly found guilty of his charge. >> solitary confinement is only

the first half of the prison's disciplinary action for rule 38 violators. >> they have to go through the class, make the guys think about the behavior. we trying to help guys change their deviant behavior. the regular meeting of sexual love addiction anonymous. the only qualify indication is desire to stop living, love addiction. >> the inmates attending the 12-step meeting opened up to our crew. >> i'm just a man, right? you know what i'm saying. >> you might see a female and she might come by you smelling good so you get that urge and desire that she wants you. >> i've been here 12 years. without touching a woman. being around a woman.

it gets to you sometimes. feel like you want to blow and go off but that ain't going to help. >> after the meeting inmate lamar flynn tried to explain the behavior to our female producer who had been subjected to rule 38 violations by other inmates numerous times herself during the holman shoot. >> what do you do when there's a woman walking by? what do you actually do, tell me that. >> i look at her and try to undress her with my eyes and imagine that she has -- on and stuff like that. and she's pretty or sexy or appear to me and stuff like that. but i never got in front of a woman and exposed myself something like that. like, we sitting here talking face -- >> but i'm surround by my camera crew doing an interview. what do you think it's like for a woman to be in that position? >> seeing you here a couple

times. when i see you, i know guys trying to masturbate off you. when i look, i say it's over

here in brisbane, all the g-20 countries announced an initiative to support jobs by building infrastructure. our nation made commitments to bring 120 million women into our work force. we closed tax loopholes for multinational companies and stop tax evaders from hiding behind

shell companies. these were specific provision. they were not goals set without any substance behind them. we have made concrete progress in the course of the last several g-20 sessions and prevent companies from taxes they own in their home countries "t" including the united states. meanwhile the breakthrough the united states achieved with india allows for a resumption of talks on a global trade deal. this week we took historic steps in the fight against climate change. the goal i announced in beijing will double the pace at which america reduces its carbon pollution while strengthening our energy security and putting us on the path to a low carbon

future, combined with china's commitment. china committed for slowing and peaking and reversing the course of its emissions. there is no excuse for other nations to come together for a climate agreement next year. the $3 billion contribution for to the green climate fund will help developing nations deal with climate change and invest in clean energy. i want to commend prime minister abe and japan for their $1.5 billion pledge to the found and following the steps we have taken in the united states many of the g-20 countries worked to increase the efficiency of heavy duty vehicles. and finally i'm pleased that more nations are stepping up and joining the united states in the effort to end the ebola epidemic in west africa. coming on the heels of the

security program in the united states, to prevent detective and respond to future outbreaks. from trade to climate change to the fight against ebola, this was a strong week for american leadership. and the results will be more jobs for the american people, historic steps towards a cleaner and healthier planet and progress to saving lives not just in west africa but eventually in other places. if you ask me that's a pretty good week. the american people can be proud of the progress they have made. i plan to build on that momentum when i return home tomorrow. with that i'm going to take a few questions. i've got my cheat sheet here. we're going to start with matt of reuters. >> thank you, mr. president. some of your fellow g-20 leaders

took an in your face approach with president putin. >> with who? >> president putin. took a confrontational approach with him. how confrontational or not were those encounters? did you have further exchanges with him here? what progress did you make on the ukraine issue and of course, you've now just met with eu leaders, did you agree on further sanctions. are you prepared to state unequivocally that if congress does pass a keystone pipeline bill you would veto it if it comes to your desk? >> i had naturally several interactions with president putin during the course of the apec summit and then here at the

g-20. i would characterize them as typical of our interactions which are business like and blunt. and my communications are no different of what i've said publicly and privately over this crisis in the ukraine which is russia has the opportunity to take a different path to resolve the issue of ukraine which respects ukraine's sovereignty and existent with international law. that is our preference and if it does so, then i will be the first to suggest that we roll back the sanctions that are, frankly, having a devastating effect on the russian economy. if he continues down the path that he is on, violating international law, providing heavy arms to the separatists in ukraine, violating an agreement that he agreed to just a few

weeks ago, the minsk agreement that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas, and make -- providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution then the isolation that russia is currently experiencing will continue. and in my meeting with european leaders they confirmed their view that so far, russia has not abided by the spirit or the letter of the agreement that mr. putin signed. or agreed to. and that as a consequence we are going to continue to maintain the economic isolation while maintaining the possibility of a diplomatic solution. is it not our preference to see russia isolated the way it is. we would prefer a russia that is fully integrated with the global economy, that is thriving on

behalf of its people, that can once again engage with us in cooperative efforts around global challenges. but we're also firm on the need to uphold core international principles. and one of those is you don't invade other countries or finance proxies and support them in ways that break up a country that has mechanisms for democratic elections. >>. [ inaudible ] >> at this point, the sanctions that we have in place are biting plenty good. we retain the capabilities and we have our teams constantly looking at mechanisms in which to turn up additional pressure as necessary. with respect to keystone i've

said consistently and i think i repeated in burma but i guess we'll answer it one more time. we're going to let the process play itself out. and the determination will be made in the first instance by the secretary of state. but i won't hide my opinion about this which is one major determinant on whether we should approve a canadian pipeline shipping oil to world markets, not to the united states is does it contribute to the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change? [ inaudible question ] >> matt, i got to move on, man. everybody wants to go home. all right? other people have questions. jim acosta, cnn? >> thank you, mr. president. i wanted to ask you about the

climate deal you agreed to with chinese president xi. and on that front but adding in your expected executive actions on immigration. i wanted to ask you, sir, what is stopping a future republican president or even a democratic president from reversing your executive orders and are you expanding the powers of the presidency in ways that could possibly backfire on your agenda down the road? and on the battle against isis, martin dempsey is in iraq right now but last week he said he could envision a snare you in which ground forces could be engaged in iraq. i know you ruled out the use of ground troops going house to house. have you changed your mind on that any? >> with respect to the climate agreement, the goal that we've

set, a 26 to 28% reduction by 2025. we shaped that target based on existing authorities, rather than the need for additional congressional action. and i want to be clear, here, jim. that's based not on particular executive actions that i'm taking but based on the authority that's been upheld repeatedly by this supreme court for the epa, the environmental protection agency, to be able to share rules to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases. obviously it's supplemented by a bunch of stuff that we're doing for example the doubling of fuel efficiency standards on cars is something that we negotiated with the car companies and with labor groups and is working

really well and we're selling a lot of american cars domestically as well as internationally and they are more fuel efficient and more popular cars. with respect to executive actions generally, the record will show that i have taken fewer executive actions than my predecessors. nobody disputes that. what i think has changed is the reaction of some of my friends in congress to exercising what are normal and, frankly, fairly typical exercises of presidential authority. you are absolutely right, that the very nature of an executive action means that a future president could reverse those actions but that's always been true. that was true when i came into office. if president bush had a bunch of executive actions that he had

signed, it was part of my authority to reverse them. that's why, for example on immigration reform it continues to be my great preference to see congress pass comprehensive legislation because that is not reversed by a future president. it would have to be reversed by a future congress. that's part of the reason why i've argued consistently that we're better off if we can get a comprehensive deal through congress. that's why i showed extraordinary patience with congress in trying to work a bipartisan deal. that's when i was encouraged when the senate produced a bipartisan immigration deal. and why i waited for over a year for speaker boehner to call that bipartisan lil bill in the hous. but as i've said before i can't wait in perpetuity when i have authorities that at least for the next two years can improve the system.

can allow us to shift more resources to the border, rather that separating families, improve the legal immigration system. i would be derelict in my duties if i did not try to improve the system that everybody acknowledges is broken. and with respect to syria, chairman dempsey has consistently said in all his testimony and i would expect him to always do this, to give me his best military advice and not be constrained by politics. and he has not advised me that i should be sending u.s. troops to fight. what he said in testimony and what i suspect he'll always say that, yes, there are circumstances in which he could envision the deployment of u.s. troops. that's true everywhere, by the way. that's his job.

is to think about various contingencies and there are always circumstances in which the united states might need to deploy u.s. ground troops. if we discovered that isil had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands, then, yes, you can anticipate that not only would chairman dempsey recommend me sending u.s. ground troops to get that weapon out of their hands but i would order it. so the question just ends up being what are those circumstances? i'm not going to speculate on those. right now we are moving forward in conjunction with allies like australia in training security forces to do their jobs on the ground. [ inaudible question ] >> my thinking has not changed currently. ed henry of fox?

>> thank you. one question, i promise. >> that's great. >> at your burma town hall you tried to inspire young leaders by saying governments need to be accountable. i wonder how you square that with your former adviser, jonathan gruber claiming you were not transparent about the health law because in his words the voters are stupid. did you mislead americans about the tax in order to get the bill passed? >> no, i did not. i just heard about this. i get well-briefed before i come out here. the fact that some adviser who never worked on our staff expressed an opinion that i completely disagree with in terms of the voters, is no reflection on the actual process that was run. we had a year-long debate, ed. i mean, go back and look at your

stories. the one thing we can't say is that we did not have a lengthy debate about health care in the united states of america. or that it was not adequately covered. i would just advise -- every press outlet here, go back and pull up every clip, every story, and i think it will -- it's fair to say there was not a provision in the health care law that was not extensively debated and was fully transparent. now, there were folks who disagreed with some of the various positions. it was a tough debate. but the good news is, and i know this wasn't part of your question, but -- since some folks back home who don't have health insurance may be watching, open enrollment just started. which means that those who did

not take advantage of the marketplaces the first time around, they've got another chance to sign up for affordable health care. they may be eligible for a tax credit. so far there are over half a million successful log ins on the first day. healthcare.gov works really well right now. there were 23,000 applications completed in the first eight hours and tens of thousands of more throughout the day. health care is work. 10 million people have got health insurance and millions more are eligible and contrary to some of the predictions of the nay sayers, not only is the program work but we have seen health care inflation lower than it's been in 50 years which is contributing to us reducing the deficit and has the effect of making premiums for families

lower than they otherwise would have been. all right? kristen welker? >> thank you, mr. president. i'd like to ask you again about syria. when you were asked about the u.s. campaign against isis you said it's too early to see whether we are winning you went on to say this is going to be a long-term plan. there are reports you ordered a review of your entire syria policy. i would like to put the question to you today are you recalibrating your policy in syria and does that include plans to remove president bashar al-assad and was it a mistake not to focus on assad officially? thank you. >> we have a weekly meeting with my centcom commander, with the

chairman of the joint chiefs, with all our diplomatic personnel related to the region and my national security team, secretary of state and secretary of defense and intelligence teams to assess what kind of progress are we making both in iraq and in syria with respect to isil. and i will be having weekly meetings as long as this campaign lasts because i think it's very important for us to get it right. we have not had a comprehensive review of syria. we've had a comprehensive review of what are we doing each and every week, what's working, what's not? some of it is detailed at the tactical level. some of it is conceptual. we continue to learn about isil, where its weaknesses are, how we can effectively put pressure on them. nothing extraordinary or formal of the sort you describe has

taken place. certainly no changes have taken place with respect to our attitude towards bashar al-assad. and i've said this before but let me reiterate. assad has ruthlessly murdered hundreds of thousands of his citizens. and as a consequence, has completely lost legitimacy with the majority of the country. for us to then make common cause with him against isil would only turn more sunnis in syria in the direction of supporting isil and would weaken our coalition that

sends a message around the region this is not against -- a fight against sunni, islam but a fight against extremists who are willing to behead innocent people or kill children or mow down political prisoners with the wanton cruelty that i think we've very rarely seen in the modern age. so we have communicated to the syrian regime when we operate in their air space that they would be well advised not to take us on. but beyond that, there's no expectation that we are going to in some ways enter into an alliance with assad. he is not credible in that country. now, we are looking for a political solution, eventually in syria that is inclusive of all groups there.

the sunni, the christians, and at some point the people of syria and the various players involved as well as the regional players, turkey, iran, assad's patrons like russia, are going to have to engage in a political conversation. and you know, it's the nature of diplomacy in any time, certainly in this situation where you end up having diplomatic conversations, potentially with people that you don't like and regimes that you don't like. but we're not close to be a it that stage yet. >> are you actively discussing ways to remove him as part of that political transition? >> no. major gary? >> thank you, mr. president. as you know the continuing resolution expires on december 11th. many things are related to that,

funding for iraq and syria. the ebola outbreak not to mention day-to-day government operations. what are the odds the country will see itself in a shutdown scenario? how much do you fear the government will shut down and to what your degree does your anxiety about this influence the timing of your decision on immigration and executive action? >> i take mitchell mcconnell at his word when he says the government's not going to shut down. there's no reason for it to shut down. we traveled down that path before. it was bad for the country. it was bad for every elected official in washington. and at the end of the day was resolved in the same way that it would have been resolved if we hadn't shut the government down. that's not going to be productive. and i think that leader mcconnell and speaker boehner understand that.

but this goes to a broader point that i've made previously and i'll just reiterate. it is in the nature of democracy that the parties are going to disagree on certain issue. and in our system, because we don't have a parliamentary system, it means that you can have a congress of one party and a president of another and they disagree on really fundamental issues. and the question then is, how do you deal with that? well, the sensible way to deal with it is to say here are the issues we don't agree on, and we'll fight like heck for our position. and then we'll work together on the issues that we do agree on. and that's how it's always been. that's how it was with ronald reagan when he was dealing with a democratic congress. there's no point where the

democrats say because you don't agree with president reagan on x, y, z issue we can't work on social security reform or tax issues, he said, okay, well, fight on that, we'll join together on that. and as a consequence the country will make progress. i will expect that same attitude in this instance. i understand there are members of the republican party who deeply disagree with me and law enforcement and the evangelical community and a number of their own republican colleagues about the need for immigration reform. i get that. and they've made their views clear and there's nothing wrong with them arguing their position and opposing legislation. but why they would then decide we're going to shut down the government makes about as much sense as my decision to shut

down the government if they decide to take a vote to repeal health care reform for the 53rd or 55th time in? i understand there is a difference there, but let's keep on doing the business. [ inaudible question ] >> i think the main concern i have is making sure we get it right and that's what we're focused on at this point. any executive action i take is -- is going to require some adjustments to how dhs, the department of homeland security operates where it's deploying resources, et cetera, how are folked processed, what priorities are set up. i want to make sure we cross our ts and dot our is. that is my main priority. and we're going to close with

jim -- >> following up on immigration. in 2010 when asked to stop deportations and act alone on providing legal status for the undocumented you said i'm president, i'm not king i can't do these things by myself. in 2013 you said i'm not the emperor of the united states. mr. president, what has changed since then? and now you have had a chance to talk with your legal advisers what do you believe are your limits so you can't to act as president and not as emperor or king? >> my position hasn't changed. when i was talking to the advocates their interest was in me through executive action duplicating the legislation that was stalled in congress. and getting a comprehensive deal of the sort that is in the

senate legislation, for example, does extend beyond my legal authorities. there are certain things i cannot do. there are certain limits to what falls in the limits of discretion on how we apply existing immigration laws. and what we've continued to do is talk to office of legal counsel that's responsible for telling us what the rules are, what the scope of our operations are, and determining where it is appropriate for us to say we're not going to deport 11 million people. on the other hand we have severe resource constraints in processing and having enough immigration judges and so forth. and so what's within our

authority to do? and reallocating resources and reprioritizing since we can't do everything. and it's on that basis that i'll be making a decision about any executive actions that i might take. i will repeat what i've said before. there is a very simple solution to this perception that somehow i'm exercising too much executive authority. pass a bill i can sign on this issue. if congress passes a law that solves our border problems, improves our legal immigration system and provides a pathway for the 11 million people who are here working in our kitchens, working in farms, making beds in hotels, everybody knows they're there. we're not going to deport all of them.

we'd like to see them being able out in the open to pay their taxes, pay a penalty, get right with the law. give me a bill that addresses those issues. i'll be the first one to sign it and metaphorically i'll crumple up the executive actions we take because we will now have a law that addresses these issues. >> but in those five months since you said you're going to act, have you received the legal advice from the attorney general about what limits you have and what you can do? >> yes. >> and would you tell us what those are? >> no. i will tell them when i make the announcement. but it's a good try. it's a good angle. jim and i go way back. he was famous. i was not. he used to be a broadcaster in chicago. i used to watch him on tv. you've aged a little better than

i have. people of australia, thank you again for your wonderful hospitality. [ applause ] >> as the g-20 summit comes to a close, president obama wraps up a week of a lot of progress and a week that americans can be proud of efforts on climate change and efforts to combat ebola. it's a strong week for the american people and the momentum is one he hopes to bring home when he returns tomorrow. immigration and the battle against isis and the keystone xl pipeline. he did speak about obamacare as open enrollment has begun again. the president also cited the strength of the u.s. economies

and the leaders boast global growth of $2 trillion by promoting infrastructure and trade. and on the side of the g-20 in brisbane, australia, the presidented me with the prime ministers of japan and australia and as well on the side and expressed their commitment to deepening security ties in the asia-pacific. the white house is clear to say that that meeting with those two countries and the prime ministers wasn't an intention to send a message to china as far as to antagonize them as well. but coming to together and agreeing on military ties. and also speaking the prime minister abe of japan and prime minister abbott of australia speaking about defeating isis and the global strategy as well and combatting the spread of ebola. and again, russia's actions against ukraine with australia

having a given interest in that given they lost 38 citizens after the rebels had downed a commercial airliner. we want to turn now to kristen welker who was there. and you asked the president point-blank about a strategy and a recalibration against isis there. so a lot you're taking away from his remarks? >> there are, francis. there are a lot of take aways from this press conference. that is one of them. there have been reports that president obama had called for a review of his syria policy, including plans to remove president bashar al-assad and he knocked those reports down saying we have ongoing discussions about this and we are constantly reviewing our policy in syria. and when i asked if those plans including removing bashar al-assad, he said no but he did talk about the importance of a political transition in syria.

i think that is going to be a key focus moving forward. a couple other headlines i'll point you to, one with russia. i heard you talking about that. he was asked to characterize his conversations on the sidelines of the apec summit. he said his conversations with putin were what they always were, business like and blunt. but you heard him talk about the fact he has been in discussions with his european allies and it seems they are poised to potentially enact new sanctions if president putin doesn't deescalate the crisis in ukraine. we have seen the crisis escalate with russian troops move in and there are reports that russia may be planning to fly military planes near the u.s. all of that under discussion at the g-20 summit. there was another big headline i want to point out revolving around immigration reform. one of my colleagues asked him

if he thought a government shutdown was possible if he believed some of the bluster that we're hearing from republicans who are saying they will shut down the government if he acts unilaterally on immigration. he said, one, he doesn't believe that's going to happen. and when asked if that would in any way shape the timing of his announcement, president obama said, no. that rather, he wants to get the policy right. but, francis there, is no doubt that if he announces his executive action on immigration reform before december 11th which is the deadline for the spending bill, that that will be a huge fight in washington. republicans already signalling they will fight that tooth and nail. >> a lot coming out of his trip in china and myanmar as well. right away in his remarks there out of brisbane spoke about the strength of the u.s. economy and how he is hoping to build on

that with the progress on climate change and the agreement with china as well. the effort to combat ebola. a strong week for the american people. it's something he needs from a global perspective. he is taking this trip after the major defeat there -- we lost that shot. the major defeat on november 4th with the mid-terms. he's wanting to come out strong as far as how he is viewed globally. >> i thienk you're right. he left for this trip through the asia-pacific region after that devastating defeat in the mid-terms. and a lot of people -- a lot of critics said he's been weakened on the global stage and what did come out of this week is that agreement with china, that landmark agreement on climate control and we saw the president flexing his muscles signaling he is going to move on immigration

reform, taking these unilateral actions despite republicans who say they're not going to tolerate it. but the question remains, how much staying power do the actions have? he leaves office in two years. that climate control initiative he announced doesn't kick in until 2025. that is lock after he leaves office and the immigration executive order will lose its teeth once he leaves office. a lot of questions and a lot of battles in washington. republicans saying that they're not going to tolerate these executive actions by the president and signaling they are ready to fight down to the wire on this. >> many major balls in the air that the president is juggling including strategy against isis which you asked him about directly. and as far as action on a plan to remove al-assad which he said there is none and the

involvement with general dempsey there. talk about that. >> he was asked -- you have general dempsey who has repeatedly said that at some point in time there might need to be a small modest force of u.s. troops on the ground in iraq. and president obama has said he is not going to put u.s. forces in combat roles in iraq. so you have this ongoing divide between the generals and president obama with the generals signaling it might be necessary. military experts say it's impossible to win the fight without ground troops. but president obama said he is not considering putting troops on the ground. that's still not going to be part of his calculation. but he also didn't rule it out altogether. and there's this big concern about mission creep, particularly among some democrats who say it has begun. because we are hearing of more

going. 1500 more u.s. forces going over. they will serve in advisory roles. people are concerned about mission creep. when they hear those comments that heightens their concern. >> you were following the president there in brisbane and you will return here. we will hear more. we want to send you back to our regular programming. thank you for being with us. i'm francis rivera. msnbc takes you behind the scenes of america's prisons. now the scenes you've never seen, lockup raw. >> every time we step into another prison we're amazed by the world that we enter. it's violent. it's loud. very intimidating and