welcome back. let's get a check on the day ahead. president obama will follow up on the immigration announcement with a visit to nevada.announce. and the capitol christmas tree arrives in washington, d.c., the tree hails from minnesota this year, and it will be lit on december 2nd, that is it, "morning joe" starts right now. >> if you register, pass a criminal background check and you are willing to pay your fair share of of taxes you will be able to apply to stay in the country without the fear of deportation, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law, all we are saying is, we are not going to deport you, the critics of this action call it amnesty, it's not.

it's the immigration system we have today. >> good morning, it's friday, november 21st, and welcome to "morning joe," can you believe it's friday? it sort of has been a long week. that was president last night. amazing speech. we have political analyst and visiting professor at nyu, former democratic congressman, hear old ford, jr. did you do wiell? >> he gave a good speech. >> controversial? >> no doubt. >> and morning. good to have you on board for just this reason. and the host ofof -- before we t to immigration and the big conversation about that, we want to start this morn onning in up-state new york where massive snow storm is going wrap up finally after pounding the buffalo region for the last few days. it has been breaking news over

the past 36 hours. it has been blamed for ten deaths after dropping up to 7 feet in some area of snow. roof collapses are a major concern, with warmer temperatures this weekend expected and flooding will be an issue as well. lester holt has more on this . >> reporter: more than 100 patients had to be evacuated when the roof showed signs of weakening. >> there's potential for collapse. >> reporter: two dozen people driven from the roads by white-out conditions and deep snow has been holed up in the wall mrt store since tuesday. >> could not ask for a better place to be stranded. >> reporter: from the air, we could see the area painted in white, rooftops looked like they are slathered in whip cream. we can count dozens of cars that were stopped in their tracks,

buri buried in snow, the roof is barely visible. even as road crews make progress, there's neighborhoods still can cut-off, surrounded by chest deep snow. we went down one street on foot where we could only shout a conversation. have you ever seen it like this? >> i have never seen it like this, i have lived here my whole life. >> reporter: the officials are doing their best to reach those with emergencies and are reminding hope-bound residents to take precautions. >> you are looking theity buffalo bills stadium. it's covered in snow, the schedule game on sunday has been moved to monday night in ford field in detroit. they were trying to get people to shovel it out, it's impossible at this point. let's bring in bill with the latest, bill? >> the snow totals are off the chart. the highest total we have in is over 7 feet of snow in this three-day event. it's really two storms that were

separated by one day. all through theier, hamburg was 80 inches, orchard park where the stadium was cloelocated, it was -- a front end loader dug this woman out, and this is just from her driveway, you can see her son went out to climb the mountain of snow in her front yard. this is what they will deal with all winter long, it will be there all season. we will melt considerably, we will up to 61 on monday, it will be humid out there too, so that melts the snow faster. a half inch of rain, we are worried about flooding. worse damage was done by the snow and the wet of the snow. we will watch it as with we go through the weekend and good news is over the weekend, warm air builds across the country. we are two weeks of january type weather and it's over with after today. >> all right, bill, we will be in touch with you, we have the big news now this morning out of

w with a, in the words of president obama, we were strangers once too. last night that speech to the nation the president made the emotional case for wide ranger immigration reform. but with a nod to the political blow-back that lies ahead. he heads to las vegas today to curoccucurry favor for the acti. it is intended to protect human trafficking victim. it will remove barriers for foreign workers to come here and work and stay longer, especially in the high tech industry. and the center piece will prevent the deportation of 5 million americans. he has argued that every president since eisenhower has taken action on immigration, it is clear that he is aware of the politics aa head. >> don't let the disagreement on

a single issue be a deal breaker on every issue. it's not how the democracy works. >> okay, javier, let's look at how the "new york times," first line, president obama chose -- >> you know, i think first and foremost, our association, the 3.2 million hispanic in the country that collectively contribute billions of dollars in the economy stand in support of the president's action. it's not the action that anybody hoped for. >> i understand that, you and i are on the same page, could he have waited? could he have given them a deadline? what would have changed this this deadline? >> he could have, but the reality of it is, there's a bipartisan bill that has sat in congress now for over a year. and we prefer some action versus

no action at all. >> ray suarez, when do you think? >> there was risk involved by the president, but it may have been a bigger risk to way longer. the president has been calling for congress to act on this for a long time, for years in fact. congress could not even fas dream act, which for a long time was considered the low hanging fruit of immigration reform. if you could not take the most sympathetic immigrants, people that were brought here as babes in arms in many cases and make them safe from deportation, what could you accomplish? the house had a long time to do something on it and did nothing. the president was advised by many to act earlier and he didn't. the clock was running and he was under pressure too. >> and the republicans are sounding the alarm. >> they are insensed about this. the top leaders are using the president's own words against him now. >> the president said before, he

is not kin. and he is not an emperor, but he is sure acting like one, and he is doingi ining it at a time wh american people want us to work together. >> he was talking about immigration, and i know that some wish i could by-pass congress and change the law myself. but that is not how democracy works. indeed, mr. president, it isn't. >> previous comments were looked at on executive author aity, an they said it's false that his position has changed. it will embolden more desperate people to make the often deadly crossing from the united states -- to the united states from mexico it is said. and there's division on how best to respond to the president. some are pushing for budget strikes and others are dangling the idea of a shutdown and some

are not fully ruling out impe h impeachment. >> we can defund areas of president obama's lawlessness, so we should do so, use the power of the purse. >> are you worried about the political blow-back on the republicans if they do that? >> not if it's targeted and limited. what are we talking? it's not government shutdown or anything drastic. >> third would be kuth out the appropriations bill. i don't want to could the last thing. nobody wants to do the "i" word, the president has thrown us in to the situation. >> you hear caution. lindsey graham is cautious

saying if you make it about us, then it's not about the president and immigration. they can pass their own law that the president can vito. >> and the president said do it. pass the bill. >> first of all, i think the substance of what the president said, spot on. these are steps that should have been taken, his timing is wrong, however. i think it would probable have been better to give the republican new congress three months to act to it, and lay it out, and if they didn't, the president could still act on executive action. you have to wonder, there will be ramifications for this. the republicans warned before this happened and the president is taking a big risk on other parts of other important parts of the agenda being enacted. now this issue is important. and it may end up being the only issue that gets done over the next several months. hopefully the republicans are not equally silly and shutdown government or try to impeach the

president. the democrats in the congress could have negative blow-back from this. >> do you feel the timing was provocative? putting the republicans in a place where they always do, trying to knock down what he has always done, instead of doing something productive. which he could have given them time to do. >> no doubt, it's provocative. >> the reality is that there's an amazing hispanic electorate that is growing by leaps and bounds. many turn 18 and become an eligible voter. every 30 seconds, a hispanic turns 18 and becomes a voter. the republicans have a chance here to illustrate leadership to this electorate, and finish what

has begun long before president obama came along. >> ray, do you think the republicans will see it as an opportunity? >> no, but in some ways the president painted them in the corner. it's true when the president said that what he has done is limited. it is only in effect for the life of his administration. it can be rescinded by the next president or over ridden by legislation. but do the republicans want to aggressively move to break up families and start sending people home by using their legislative tools that they have been reluctant to use so far. do they want to do that? the president cannot make them legal, and he didn't do that last night. all he did was move them to the back of the line for waiting to be deported. he the cannot regularize their status, he didn't do it. do the republicans want to move in and say, sorry, buddy, you

want to get on the next plane. >> i know it's a question with a long answer. give me a quick one and distil it down, what is your in my opinion? what do you think had hispanics and latinos in general are looking for, what is a sound immigration policily? >> you know, i think something comprehensive and permanent is what everyone is looking for. we are an organization that is focusing on economic development and the commercial and economic interest of the nation. anything that helps entrepreneurs and small business in the country is what we are looking for. this is not what anybody hoped for, there's an opportunity here to illustrate demonstrate lly d needed leadership. >> we will talk more about what is brewing on this after the president's comments last night t white house is pushing forward for the pick of the top treasury post. the administration has no plans

to pull back on the nomination of antonio weise. it's said that he helped companies avoid taxes by moving money overseaoverseas. it's time for president to loosen the hold that wall street banks have over this issue warren's growing power is described as a test. and liberals are showing strong support for the massachusetts democrat. she tops hilary clinton in a poll. she has popularity on the left. and the far, far left for sure. bill cosby is scheduled to take the stage tonight for a performance as the lift of women

accusing him of sexual assault grows. a 57-year-old florida nurse said cosby drugged and raped her in las vegas when she was 19. but she continued to see him and later asked for and received thousands of dollars from him. >> he changed the course of my life. instead of empowering me like he said he does to people. he made me a victim and a all my life i have been a victim because of this. and that doesn't go away for all of the days of my life. >> the wife of the incredible hulk actor, lou ferrigno is speaking out, she claims that cosby try to force himself on her in his home and she was able to get away. and new york daily news has an interview with another woman that said the comedian lured her in to a hotel room in 1992, and

assaulted her. and an actress who appeared in one flew over the cucoo's nest said she was assaulted. the attorney for bill cosby said we have reached the point of absurdity, the stories are getting more and more ridiculous. the producers of "the cosby show" are break their silence saying the accusations are beyond our knowledge or comp hengz. cosby is scheduled to give a stand up performance tonight, he did not address the allegations last night in his performance. in the past, cosby has denied allegations made by other women, and has never really been criminal charged. >> he is going to have to come out is and say something at some point. it's getting away from him.

if these allegations are true, it's obviously horrible. but that ap interview he did a couple of nights ago, he on camera ask today correspondent to edit out the question and his response to this. >> he did not respond. >> he did not respond, he told h them to take out the question. none of it is proven, but so far, they are allegations, he needs to talk about it. >> josh ernest, congressman aaron shock and actress brooke shields with her new memoire, and a thanksgiving day the communicate. you are watching "morning joe." (vo) you are a business pro.

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>> all right, it's time to hook at the morning papers business insider. this is interesting, a walmart in oklahoma is holding a food collection for its own employees. according to the store manager, idea of the food drive came from an employee who wanted to help co-workers experiencing hardship. critics say the drive is proof walmart does not pay it's employees enough, the the company maintains that the it's simply employees taking care of each other, the average hourly wage is $11.73. >> they did it last year to too. >> yeah. >> the executive editor of the "new york times" may launch a new journalist website with the huffington post, it will feature lengthy articles on a monthly basis. >> the "wall street journal"

better call saul, it's said to air on sunday, february 8th the the new show will run for ten episodes and amc has given the greenlight for another season ghmpt exciting. >> love him. >> suspended vikings running back adrian peterson appears to show the remorse that commissioner rodger goodell said was lacking. he said that he will never use a switch on his child. he said that no one knows how i felt when i turned my child around after spanking him, and seeing what i had left on his leg. no one knows that dad sat there and apologized to him and hugged him and told him how sorry i was. he hopes to return to the vikings and he is looking forward to meet face to face with goodell to share his regret in person. >> all right, usa today, thanksgiving travel is expected to reach the highest level since 2007.

aaa estimates 46 million people will travel at 50 miles or more to celebrate the holiday, that is up 4.2% from last year. gas had hs reached the lowest ll in four years. down $.43 since 2013. you driving anywhere? >> no. you have any advice to what people should pack this season? >> their patience. >> a marine was shot by a sniper bullet, he will do today what he thought was impossible. he will walk across the stage to receive his bronze star. he will retire from the marine corp and receive a bronze star, he will use a robotic exoskeleton that will allow him

to stand and walk theity ceremony today the. >> that is beautiful. coming up, he led the republicans to several big victories but what does new jersey governor chris christie have to show for it? >> plus, the must-read opinion pages, we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪ it's not about how many miles you can get out of the c-max hybrid. it's about how much life you can fit into it. ♪ the ford c-max hybrid. with an epa-estimated range of 540 miles on a tank of gas. and all the room you need to enjoy the trip. go stretch out.

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all right, it's time for the must-read opinion pages, we have a bunch of different ones. this is the washington post on bill cosby, hard to keep the faith. and he writes in part this, a few weeks ago, i spent a delightful afternoon and evening with bill cosby. i was the emcee of a gala for historically black claflin university which is this my hometown of orangeburg south carolina, i was having a jolly old time with a serirapist? i'm having trouble squaring the allegations with the man i was with that day. many people may be experiencing the same. cosby has spent his long ground

breaking career in the entertainment industry being such a good guy. how could he possibly be such a bad guy too? i would like to believe the man i met is incapable of such montsrous acts, but his stoney silence is making it hard to keep the faith. to your point, i think he needs to say something. and that puts it in perspective why people are having a hard time talking about this. he has done amazing transformative things for society. his life and his work means so much to so many families and to black and white americans in terms of understanding each other and bridging the gap, fair? >> no doubt, he broke barriers. look, he has to answer this at some point, these allegations continue, it's not one or 10. >> and you don't know if it's a pile on. >> the argument i say it so carefully --

. >> gene said it well. >> there's nothing proved. nothing proved. no convictions, just allegations. but there are a lot of them at this point. peggy noonan. >> let's move, the nihlst, the bomb white house assumes it will happen to them, thus they can do pretty much what they want. what they forget is that facts largely decide what the history thinks. history will be written by liberals, fair enough and they will judge harshly because he has failed to do anything to last. keystone will pass and a veto overridden and the president has failed liberals through unpopularity which is another word for incompetence, ray, obviously not a fan of the

president, what do you think of the piece? >> i think there's a lot of chapters to be written this the obama presidency. she makes the point that liberals are disappointed and i think they are. i talk to them and they say, how come he will not go big. the people on the other side are people that will not agree with anything. how come he comes in prebaked and willing to compromised no matter what he says, the people that consider themselves his political opponents are never going to give him an inch. they cannot understand why the president precompromises, comes in at his final number and then sees that start to tear down. >> all right, we are going to bring in chief white house correspondent for political michael ennow, with the morning playbook. one of the lead stories this morning, j governor chris christie is finding little 2016 support from his fellow governors. >> govern eor christy was a gra

sl slam, was a big part of his comeback story. he raised $100 million traveling the country can. but at the big annual meeting, jake sherman asked some of the governors that he helped elected, if governor christie runs for president, will you elect him? those governors said he is a great guy, but we are not going to commit to him yet, he can run if he wants to. he got a lot out of this. he said that he does not begrudge the governors for holding back. he said, they cannot commit if i won't commit, it would be presumptuous of me to say will you back me if i sflun. >> what is the grassroots

opinion of chris christie, what is the feeling about him among republicans across the country? >> well, as you know, represent cans feel he would be a very strong match up with hilary clinton. the way that one top republican said it to me, he is the only guy that hilary clinton cannot be sure she could beat. along with jeb bush. how does he get to that match up? so the question is, could he navigate iowa? people think he probably could play fine in new hampshire, it's how do you get to that match up? it would be the same issue with governor jeb bush, probably strong against hilary clinton. hard to see how he gets through a republican primary where they are not going to like his stand on immigration and common core, what the represent condition voters call obama core. >> and democrats bet big on

demographics why many think the president's action on executive action in immigration will pay off in a big way. what are they saying? >> it pulls back the curtain on what happened last night and makes the point that it's a bet on the emerging voting groups. socially progressive younger voters and latino hispanic voters. democrats, the president's party may face a backlash among white voters in the south, and in to the rust belt for the immigration action, but in a state like virginia and florida, both so important in a presidential race of course you have populations there where it will be popular. >> michael en, itke -- mike all. it's friday. >> it friday! >> this is -- i'm going read this, i'm going deeper, okay, she said this, and harold, i

want to know what could be done avoid this. in recent years president obama has repeatedly turned to nominees with close ties to wall streelt for high level positions. the president's choice for treasure t treasury's highest position, and the president tabbed stanley fisher, a bank of america executive, was put in charge of international trade in the commerce department. the two recent picks for commodities futures trading commission, are lawyers that spent their careers representing big financial institutions. she guess on to say, it's time for the obama administration to loosen the hold that wall street banks have over economic policy making. sure, big banks are important, but running this economy for american femaamilies is a lot m important. >> her premise is right, but if

the wall street bankers are dominating the administration, they are doing a poor job of drafting policy for wall street, because wall street is complaining. they raise the point of what liberals are thinking. government does not work if one group thinks they are going to control it. it's wrong to think that. there's nothing wrong with compromise. elizabeth warren can say she is opposed to the nominees that the president put forward. but i would challenge conservatives and liberals alike to call this president an over compromiser or precompromiser if he deserved that title, that would be a good thing. that means we get more things done in washington. one of the things that i think the times is off, i think the president could have gotten more from the republicans before doing this, i would love to see the minimum wage increase. >> right, where are the bargaining chips being used? >> i don't think they are being

used effectively. liberals complain that he is not liberal enough and he should put more on the table. look, government should work, it's main function is to work for every family, regardless of how much they lobby. >> in terms of platform, it does not work. >> elizabeth warren should push, push the minimum wage, if you want to work with republicans and you think he is compromising too much, layout a plan that will allow democrats and liberals alike to get more of what they want. i don't see enough of that coming out of the liberal wing of my party and for that matter even the white house at times. >> do you think elizabeth warren has a point? >> i think she does and to the congressman's point, it's all about moving forward the president has done what he can in the areas he is called upon. there's no surprise in what he is doing. he signaled all the things long before he took action. >> up next on "morning joe,"

linda sanchez who was just elected new chair of the hispanic caucus and brooke shields will join us. you are watching "morning joe," don't go away. huh, 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. listen to this sweet symphony of flavor. beautiful! gorgeous! here comes the fruitful crescendo!

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. over the past six years deportation of criminals are up 80%. and that's why we are going to keep focusing on actual threats to the security. felons, not families. criminals, not children. gang members, not a mom who is working hard to provide for her kids. we will prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.

>> last night, people tuned in to the president's speech across the country in places like oregon, arizona and texas, it was an emotional moment for immigrants. the latin grammys were briefly delayed as the full house of musicians and celebrity watched on the big screen. and joining us now from capitol hill, the income chair woman, linda sanchez, great to have you on this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> it was certainly a big moment and i -- i applaud what the president did the. that's where i stand on it. but having said that, i want to ask can you about the poll particular -- i want to ask you about the politics there was a bit of a lecture of the president about him having no choice here. and mitch mcconnell lecturing back on how the government works. given dynamic of what happened over the past 24 hours, why would is house gop be more

inclined to pass a bill? >> the house gop made a promise that they would take up the issue of immigration reform and they did not come through on the promise. the step last night was a huge step forward and it may propel them to sit down and think seriously about proposing something. because they have done nothing. and so, i think in the grand scheme of things -- >> but isn't it a step forward politically? because might he have said, look, i'm going to do this, unless you and then given them time to pass a bill? >> we have been waiting more than 500 days. that is more than a year for the republicans in the house to put up a bill on a yes or no vote. all they have to do is schedule the vote. they don't have to write something, it was worked out overwhelmingly passed in the senate on a bipartisan basis. that is democrats and

republicans. and he promised, the speaker promised he would take it up and then back tracked on that. so, you know, republicans have never really wanted to work with the president. they want to thwart attempts to move the country forward and take care of our country's business and then when nothing gets done because they fail exercise leadership, they love to point the finger of blame at others. the fact of the matter is, the president has been urging the speaker of the house for more than a year to put something on the floor. and it has not happened. and you know, these sudden, you know, cries from the republicans side, we need more time, we need more night titime, it's disinge >> i'm not saying that they are whining, i'm wondering in the president's decision was politically strategic? >> well --

>> i'm asking ray, hold on, and then it will go to you. >> >> he set a high bar for himself. he had promised action when he began this congress if the house did not act. the house did not act, many people were urging him to make this announcement before the just completed elections. he didn't do it. now, the pressure was really going to rachet up and he moved. >> all right, harold ford, jr.? >> congresswoman sanchez, good mo morning. >> good morning. >> we heard people say he acted how he did last night, do you take them at their word that it poisons the well and may make it difficult to move and find progress on other issues from either the minimum wage to energy to health care to other issues that are important to the democratic caucus?

>> i will tell you that i don't believe that there was ever any intention to really compromise and sit down and try the to work on areas where we can find common ground and i think they look for excuses not to really work with the president on the business that the country needs to get to. >> right. >> you talk about tax reform this year. i sieve on the -- i serve on the ways and means committee, we tried to work with the republican chairman of the committee to try to get it done and it was their side that derailed the attempt and not the democrats. they promise, we want to really work on this and we need more time and the reality is they don't have any intention of trying to compromise and workout differences in areas where we may have common ground. >> all right. >> and i think they use the issue of immigration to do what, you know, secretly they want to do anyway, which is just try to

thwart attempts to get anything moving in the congress. >> all right. >> congresswoman linda sanchez, thank you for being up early with us. we appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. >> javier, let's take it all told, does the action the president took make the comprehensive immigration reform, everyone agrees it needs to take place, and disagrees on how to get there, does it make it more likely or less likely to get something done next year? >> sadly the only thing more broken than our immigration system is our congress. i hope and pray that there will be leadership from both sides of the aisle. they need to work collaboratively to find an answer for the american people. >> do you think it will happen? >> i surely hope so and i think the american business has spoken loudly on this, small business

has. voices like lowell mcadams at verizon, randal stevenson in at&t and goldman sachs have called for clarity and movement forward, we want immigration reform. >> thank you very much, both of you for being on this morning. coming up next, one of our favorite jimmy kimmel bits. celebrities reading mean tweets about themselves. we will be right back. (vo) you are a business pro. solver of the slice. teacher of the un-teachable. you lower handicaps... and raise hopes. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price.

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so tributes are pouring in this morning for legendary director mike nichols, passed away on wednesday night from are cardiac arrest, he was born in germany and came to the u.s. at 7 years old. he was called the greatest director he has ever worked with. and streep said he is not replaceable and stev-- >> you can change this whole

country. i'm going to win this thing. and when i do, we are going to make history. look me in the eye and tell me it's not going happen. look me in the eye, henry, and tell me you don't want to be a part of it. >> promises were made. >> not by me. >> i was with the company for 24 years, they win the election if i do not help the hunter take him prisoner. i have neutralized champions of communism and i have spent three years learning finnish. >> you are opening up your home and tell me your husband will not be home for hours. mrs. robinson, you are trying to seduce me, aren't you. >> dustin hoffman said nichols

was brave forecasti ining him ie role. we send our best, she just loft her mom four weeks a ago, this has been a tough thing for this them. what a great, great, well lived life and we thank him for all the wolf people and art he has delivered to so many generations. >> with we leave the hour, do you have mean tweets for us? i promised people mean tweets. >> nothing that i can read outloud. >> okay, i promised them mean tweets. >> i thought things for me. >> i don't want to hear the tweets you get, i get them too. >> we go to jimmy kimmel, another edition of mean tweet thes. this is where celebrities read mean tweets that people have written about them. >> gwyneth paltrow, you ugly [

bleep ] big bird looking [ bleep ] shut [ bleep ] up. unpopular opinion, lena dunham's boobs are dog noses. doesty burr have a student loan problem? he looks john ham if john ham was a crack addict how hold is bob newhart now? 120. i think brittney spears is stalking me on the radio, quit forcing your suckage on me you tired [ bleep ]. geena davis is a man's man. i hope you all have a great weekend, except you lisa kudrow,

[ bleep ] you. if a alien landed and demanded somebody to eat, i would drive straight to adam staandler's hoe with a net. [ bleep ]. >> lisa kudrow, generally tickled. i liked her reaction. >> and brittney spears. >> she was too. >> who gains the most from president obama's decision to act alone on immigration. and then, in buffalo, the end of that massive snow storm is in sight, but up state new york still has a long way to go to recover. and from a controversial nude scene at the age of 11 to that memorable calvin klein campaign where nothing came between her and her calvins, she sits down, more "morning joe," minutes away.

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♪ getting used to wexler in my ear, sunrise over d.c., i got it, thank you, wex, welcome back to "morning joe." harold ford, jr., and thomas roberts is here with me at the desk and matt lewis is here with us. >> a die-hard orioles fan.

>> is he? >> yes. >> i kind of like him for that. i love baltimore. >> we love him for it. >> i need to get the hopkins mug, i need to get it out of my bag. a massive snow storm is going to wrap up after poupdi inpounding buffalo region. the storm is now blamed for ten delega deaths. flooding will be an issue as well. nbc meteorologist dylan dreier will join us. >> it is amazing when we talk to dill skpylan and bill, what is , the temperatures, we will see that they go from 21 in just about three days up to 60 plus. >> oh, my lord. >> so there will be flooding

issues. and roof concerns for so many homes. >> this is still very much a developing story, i think what the after affects of this will be playing out for days. all right, let's get to the big, big news on immigration this morning. last night in a speech to the nation, the president made the emotional case for wide ranging immigration reform, with a nod to the political blow-back that lies ahead. the president heads to las vegas to curry favor for the plan that he said focuses on deporting felons not families. the white house said that the plan shifts resources to the border and extreme -- stream lines immigration reform. it will allow workers to come here and work longer especially in the high tech industry. and it protects 5 million people. he argued that every president since eisenhower has taken

executive action on immigration, it's clear he is a wear of the politics ahead. >> do not be a disagreement on a single issue be a deal breaker on every issue. that's now how democracy works and congress should not shutdown the government because we disagree on this. >> republicans are outragesed and the presidents top leaders are using his words against him. >> the president has said before he is not kin, and he is not an emperor, but he is acting like one. and he is doing it in a time when the american people want nothing more than for us to work together. >> he was talking about immigration that day. i know that some wesh i could by-pass congress and change the law myself. but that is not how democracy works. indeed, mr. president, it isn't. >> it was looked at the previous comments on executive authority and what he is saying now.

according to the site, it is false when he said his had position has not changed. but there's division among the gop on how best to respond to the president. many top legislators and governors are considering legal action. some are pushing for budget strikes and others have dangled the idea of a shutdown and others still won't fully rule out impeachment. >> appropriation bill is one area where the senate and congress can prioritize spending and we can defund areas of president obama's lawlessness and we should do so, so use the power of the purse. >> are you worried about the political blow-back on the republicans if they do it some. >> not if it's targeted and limited. what are we talking about? denying a couple of million dollars in spending in month, it's not threatening government shutdown or anything drastic. >> third would be to cut out of the appropriation's bills those funds that would fund this, that is the progressive effort of this moving forward.

but, i don't want to do the last thing, i don't want to do the " "i" word. >> some republicans urge caution, lindsey graham said if you over react, it becomes about us and not about president obama. matt lewis, is the president acting like an emperor or what could he have done to prompt action like he did last night? >> well, the emperor word is something that president obama brought up. that comes from him. i know, everybody is going to talk and say the republicans are calling him that that, he has said multiple times that this is not legal. what he did last night and what he said he was going to do was beyond his purview as president. and congress would have to do it and he said i'm not an emperor i can't do that. i think there's a temptation for

republicans to kind of use his language against him. it's a bad idea probably. i think i'm with the majority of americans on this. i think most of the policies are good policies, but the problem is that the way our system works the way democracy works is, this has to go through the legislative process. that is best for everybody. >> it not going to happen, matt, and i'm not going -- i'm trying not to -- you know what side of this i'm on. but it's -- do you think something would have happened had the president not done what he did last night? do you think we would have had a bill? come on, nothing would have happened. do we agree on that? >> i don't think, well with, it's hard to tell what might have happened over time. i agree that not within the next couple of weeks or even months. but i think it's less likely now that we will have a bipartisan consensus on this. where people like me, who have been arguing in favor of immigration reform actually now have a harder time making the

argument to conservatives and republicans because of the over-reach. he has poisoned the well on it. >> couldn't they approximatespa? >> i think it's a disservice to hispanics ultimately. the fundamental problem, i think, is the precedent it sets. if a president can just rewrite had this law, what can't a president do? and so -- >> but you are acting like it has never happened before and it's an incredibly strange. it has happened before. the presidents have issued executive orders before. >> i think it's unprecedented. if you look at what president reagan did, i'm proud he tackled immigration reform. when ronald reagan and george hw bush tweaked the law, that is different, they were operating on a law that had recently passed and they were fixing sort of using their authority to make

fixes to a law that congress had just approved. vastly different than what president obama is doing. there's no law for him to base these on. and in fact, he is going against what the voters just told him two weeks ago. >> i'm picking on matt, harold ford, jr., i don't mean to, couldn't the republicans still do something in response to this that would produce results? >> one would hope that is the reaction. >> i think they could. >> let's layout a couple of facts. this is good policy that the president laid out and what he has done is different than what he said he was going to do, because he said that he could not act alone. th matt is correct. and it will have affect on other legislation in the congress. which is a equal and bigger concern of mine. taxes, health care, energy, minimum wage, there's a number of things and the president will need republicans support on the continuing avalanche of foreign

policy changes. the timing is a little provocati provocative, was it the right time to do it should he have given congress time? and if they did not act, he acts. that is a legitimate question and one had the white house has to answer, particularly if they cannot get other things advanced. >> let's try and be productive. everyone could find something wrong with what has happened and how the republicans are responding and we can sit and argue about that. but matt, could the new republican congress, maybe perhaps respond with a bill? >> well, look, i think they could and i think they should. i mean, the problem is, i think that president obama was trolling republicans, i think that what he has been hoping to do is to actually, i believe that the democrats essentially want to own, they want to be the party of immigration reform. and that by doing this, he actually makes it harder for people like me who believe in

immigration reform. and i think the danger is republicans will over react. and it does not even have to be a leadership. it could just be a back bench member of congress that says something horrible now that will dominate. so my advice is look, i think republicans should tune it out and go about doing their business and i think they should pass a series of immigration reform bills that can start with border security, but they cannot end there. it has to continue. i personally believe in a path way to citizenship. assuming people meet all sorts of criteria along the way. >> don't tell anyone i agree with a lot of what you are saying. first, you have some news on the form president, jimmy carter? >> it's great that matt talks about the context of former presidents and when executive orders have happened in the past, we sat down with jimmy carter, former president, in a wide ranging discussion and they discussed everything from voting

laws to edward snowden and recurring criticism on the right. >> john mccain, reaching for the worst possible insult for president obama earlier this year said this, i have never seen anything like this in my life, i thought jimmy carter was bad, but he pales in comparison to this president in my opinion. the serious question is, what does it feel like and what is your response to these moments of being used as an insult? your legacy being used a as an insult? >> that is a compliment for me coming from a war -- i was lucky enough when i was president to keep our country at peace and to provide peace for others. i was lucky enough to go through my four years, with he never dropped a bomb or fired a missile or shot a bullet. >> wow, okay. here with us now from washington we have nbc news political

director and moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd, who is the author of the stranger, barack obama in the white house. i wonder when you watch today president if he adhered to the narrative in your book as opposed to being consiliatory, do you feel he had no choice? >> he well, yes, of course was politically provocative. they knew they were doing that and i think there was different clae calculations that they made. i think they regret that they waited. i think the senate democrats over panicked and over reacted, and they are right, had he announced it this earlier, some would have lost by big more points. there's regret that they did not do it sooner. they worried about credibility with hispanic activists and he put the republicans in the box.

they have control of congress. you know, that line, pass a bill. look, i think there's people that are going be okay with the policy that was announced and not like how he went about doing it. right? so, that's the box the republicans are in because what he announced is not something that is offensive to the american people. what they don't like is how he went about doing it. they wish washington do it in a more functional manner, all of those things. but the policy itself is not that unpopular, which is why i think it does put the onus on the republicans they have to put their money where their mouth is. >> chuck, good morning, harold ford, you look at congress and how they behave and treat the president. the president traveled to china and announced that the internet should be regulated like an old telephone monopoly that angered congress. and he now takes this step, what

does it mean going forward, play it 3 to 6 months going forward. other important issues and obviously the avalanche of foreign policy challenges, does the president now have not only a different congress and republican congress to deal w perhaps a more polarized congress to deal with in the coming months? >> it could, it will be interesting to see how mcconnell a and boehner handle their base. it's the base conservatives that would like to be more aggressive. they feel the president is being away aggressive against them. fight fire with fire, if it means using the power of the purse, threatening government showdowns when it comes to funding, so beit. now the leadership does not want that. they are kind of hoping that the way to challenge the president, have the lawsuit, maybe it's the state of texas, constituent of ok -- state of oklahoma, but states are pondering the idea of

suing the president over it and trying to get the courts to do it. but i don't know if it changes the relationship with -- i guess i just don't believe that things would be any better or worse if he did this now or didn't. >> all right, we have one more for you, chuck, this is on obama-care. thomas? >> the department of health and human services acknowledging that it made acceptable mistakes for including dental plans. this error added 380 dental subscribers to the roles raising the total sign ups to over 7 million. once the numbers were readjusted it puts the enrollment below. and the administration was using the number as the benchmark goal. the cbo set it out there. this error came to light through the house oversight and government reform committee. this is adding insult to injury

after all of the gruber comments have come to light and the numbers have been a lynch pin of bragging rights, so how do they spin it? >> they have to have a better second year number. i think at the end of the day, 6.7 to 7.1, if they are within 400,000, or 500,000, of the second is year number, it's not such a big deal. now they revise the second year estimate down, and now this is being revised down. they have to start worrying that they have -- that they've got a marketing issue here with the plan itself. but, you know -- >> all right. >> i think it proves that they are not anti-dentites. >> that is it. there you go. thank you very much. chuck, what do you have on "meet the press" on sunday? >> we are going to do a lot of focus on immigration and do a look at energy and how it is

totally changed some of our foreign policy attack whattacks comes to iran and russia and our economy here at home. >> we will be watching that sunday morning on "meet the press." thank you. come canning up, aaron shock and brooke shields and we go live to a snow weary buffalo to say the least. where dylan is standing by somewhere underneath the snow banks. josh earnest is our guest. you are watching "morning joe," we will be right back. get to the terminal across town. are all the green lights you? no. it's called grid iq.

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♪ my fellow americans, we are and always be a nation of

immigrants. we were striangers once too and whether our forebarers crossed the pacific or the rio grand, we are here because the country welcomed them in and taught us that being american is more than what we look like, what our last names are or how we worship. >> that does not sound like an emperor to me, it sounds like a leader. good to have you back on the show, gary. he is the co-author of latino america, how america's most dynamic population is poised to transform the politics of the nation. what do you think the impact of the president's action will be if the republicans don't come back in kind with the bill? >> i think in the short-term, it's going to dramatically improve the lives of a lot of people who are here just trying

to earn a living and support their family. it's going to protect them from the threat of deportation and the threat of family division. i think it's going to be a big political win for the president, in terms of support for his party's success on the democratic ticket. >> some of the things that republicans have said in the last few days and they screamed about last night, i happen to agree that the presidents remarks were on point. some feel it's going to serve as an invitation for people to come to the border with the hopes that they will be legal. do you think it's a valid criticism of the president? >> i don't think it's a legitimate criticism, it suggests that any action that addresses the situation of the 11 million undocumented in the united states would create more undocumented. the policy is very clear.

that it does not address anyone who has been here a short period of time and it prioritizes deport tagzs, folks that arrived after january 1st of this year and it redirects border enforcement to the border to try to make sure that no additional people cross. so, i think it's actually a rational policy. if the idea is that if you do anything about the undocumented that you invite more the only logical solution is to do nothing forever and i don't think that is viable. >> do you think the president should have programmed tried to work behind scenes with congress before taking bold action? >> i think that that's a talking point from the right. but i don't think it's a realistic view. to believe that that would have worked is to believe that a republican congress, which has been obstructionist for four years is taking control of the senate and going to be in the

mood for more compromise. the house of representatives has had 500 days plus to act on a bipartisan senate bill or offer their own and they have done absolutely nothing. >> gary, thank you very much. we want to go to the white house now, white house press secretary josh ernest joins us now. josh, let's get right to the heart of the fight. >> let's do it. >> the republicans blasted the president ahead of his address, using his own words against him. take a listen, boehner/mcconnell. >> the president said he is not an emperor, but he is sure acting like one. and he is doing it in a time when the american people want us to work together. >> he was talking about immigration that day. i know that some wish that i could bypass congress and change the law myself. but that's not how democracy works. indeed mr. president, it isn't. >> okay, but this is not

democracy working either. first of all, is he acting like an emperor, it is a new congress, should he have gone behind the scenes and said, let's see if we can work together and give a window of time and come up with something and pass it? >> i will say a couple of things. if he was a king or e in mperor, he would have implemented the bipartisan senate bill that passed the law 500 days ago. he asked the attorney general to review the authority he had under the law and he used every element of the law within the confines of the law to reform the immigration system. and that is what he did last night and it's entirely consistent with the way that the president bush, president george hw bush tried to address that when they were president. as it relates to waiting to the next congress, 2 or 3 days after

the mid term elections, speaker boehner was asked if he intended to bring i mmigration reform to the new congress. he would not commit to doing so it's a clear indication that we cannot wait for them to act to this. we need something acted to right now and the president delivered last night. >> i found parts of the speech to be beautiful as it pertained to what this country is businessbusiness -- is based on and the concepts and immigrants. having said that, he lectured the republicans and we got lectures back from the other side and we are hearing lectures on both sides. is it warmer behind the scenes, how do we get to a point where we get action that is not just one side kicking the other over the edge? >> i mean, as it relates to the president's speech right now, i

do think that everyone who watched the speech last night could tell that the president was speaking to the heart. he was talking about the values that animated his commitment to public life for the last couple of deck a aades and he was talk about what he believes the united states of america can and should be. i think the steps he announced last night are consistent with those values, those are the kind of values that the democrats and republicans across the country can will say they share, and people that did not vote for the president or are supporters of the president understand how the steps that he announced last night are consistent with the kinds of of values that we embrace as americans. >> what is that -- at this point, since we are here, almost -- what is happening behind the scenes? has he reached out to republicans? is there any attempt to negotiate on this or is that over on this point? >> well, i think we consider the announcement that the president made last night a first step in trying to fix the broken immigration system. the president is standing ready to work with democrats and

republicans. we have a good temporalate for that. we have a great template for the congress to take up legislation and work with the administration and try to advance it through the senate and the house. the president would be happy to do that. it would be good for the economy and good for job creation and good for border security and good for reducing the deficit. there's a whole host of reasons to make progress on a piece of common sense legislation like that. and the president is ready to do it. if the congress passes legislation, the president will rip up the legislation made last night. >> what about the idea that it's a change in tune and a change in substance in the president when he said he could not do it alone. how does the white house or president respond to that? >> he cannot implement the senate bill, we need the house of representatives to pass the senate bill and that means we need house republicans to stop

blocking the bill. he did everything that he could within the confines of of the law to use his executive authority to repair the broken immigration system. that is not as much authority as congress has in the matter. what the president did yesterday was of consistent with steps that were taken by president george hw bush, and president reagan. what president obama did is consistent with what president reagan did. when bush tried to fix broken aspects of the system, expanded legislation that congress passed to include 40% of the undocumented population in the country at that time. so, president george hw bush took a sweeping step to try to address problems president obama did the same thing last night. >> all right, josh ernest, good to see you, thank you very much. >> thank you for the opportunity guys. have a good friday. >> thanks, you too, coming up actress brooke shields remembers her remarkable career and how

her relationship with her mother had a major influence on it and first, more than 7 feet of snow. there she is! very good. dylan dreyer is right there in the thick of it. there's no angel in 7 feet of snow. she is a an angel, a live report from buffalo new york, next. and ah, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, shopping online is as easy as it gets. carpenters and even piano tuners

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welcome back to "morning joe," finally january is going to end, or the weather we are experiencing. what happened in buffalo is tragic, now the deg dths are upo 12. dylan dreyer has been there covering the story. you were in jersey and you lived in boston for a long time, people cannot relate and picture this. you were in one of the most intense bands in your life that you have been in your life, try to explain it to people, they see snow every year and not compare it to what you saw. >> i'm used to snow. i grew up with it, boston, we cover nor'easters all the time. you saw the stuff i was tweeting yesterday. you could not see two feet in front of you and we got stuck in the snow bank because of the white out conditions. here, covers are buried in snow and in walmart, there's several people that were living there

for the last five days. monday, they are making their own community there. and communities all across the area, they are finally breathing a sigh of relief that the snow is over. but now, they feel the concern of the long lasting impact of the snow. widespread concern this morning that a year's worth of snow over a few days is too much to the bare. >> we have been deing with reports of collapsing roofs. >> reporter: no sooner than the snow stopped that the residents were getting the snow off of their roofs. >> i looked up and had a 16-foot crack between the wall and ceiling. >> reporter: patients were evacuated over concerns that the roof would not hold. crews are working around the clock to clear the streets. here, more than 30 people have been stranded in a walmart since monday. >> i know exactly where my vehicle is, it's under 10 feet

of snow in the main entrance. >> their cars buried. these guys have camped out, where else? in the entertainment section and in the automotive section. when we left, we got stuck too. a plow helped ous out of the walmart parking lot. the buffalo bills will have to hit the road as well. the game against the jets has been moved to someplace that is not in snow. and the nfl has announced that the game will be played monday night in detroit in ford field, which is a domed field, so snow will not be an issue and as for the people in the walmart, they can dig out their car cs today, but there's travel bans so they cannot get to road until that is lifted and the concern with the flooding this week. it's one thing after another. >> i'm sure everyone is glad that the snow was over.

it was like a thunderstorm of snow, cool, but -- >> yeah, it was. >> amazing stuff. >> coming up on "morning joe," it's not a question of if republicans want to block the president's decision on immigration, it's a question of how. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪ kid: hey dad, who was that man? dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money. kid: do you pay him? dad: of course. kid: how much? dad: i don't know exactly. kid: what if you're not happy? does he have to pay you back? dad: nope. kid: why not? dad: it doesn't work that way. kid: why not? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab

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member of the weiays and means committee. and political analyst jeff greenfield. his book is now out in paperback. good to have you back. >> good to be here. >> what is the president doing with the action last night? >> i cannot assess motives, i don't know if he is sticking an eye in the republican party or not, sure, if he is not intending to it, it sure happened. and one of the things that happened, if you step back a minute, to me, it's having the same impact as the less fortunate comments that the president on the health care plan. where the debate immediately is moving away from the substance of what he is doing to how he do it. the same statement, if you like your doctor, you can keep it, dominated the discussion of health care, what we are hearing now is the debate whether he

exceeded his constitutional authority. and i think the idea, this is somehow, when i hear people say, cooler heads will prevail, i don't believe that for a minute. i don't think we have seen it for the last six years by and large. in the wake of the election and the act, whether it's legal or not is provocative, it's going to make the less calm members of your caucus enraged. so, i know i don't mean to come out here on the eve of thanksgiving and be pessimistic, but bet the under on my meaningful accomplishment. >> let's ask a member of congress, will cooler heads reisrar prevail? >> on what issue? >> on this issue. will there be a bill? will had there be an outcome that is consilcilitory?

>> the president has blown up the trust. so, it kind of stopped any progress in the house. our hope was now, with the republican senate that no only immigration reform, but the other 380 bills that we passed with bipartisan votes in the house will get to the senate and get to the president's desk so we can negotiate. >> josh earnest said he will rip it up if he come up with a bill. >> any immigration bill, the president said if you do not like what i have done, pass a bill. i think congress should. i have been pushing for on it. it will not be a massive bill like the senate passed. we will do a border security bill like we did had in the homeland security that passed unanimously, and a visa expansion and deal with the dream act kids. so, we have solutions on to these problems. the problem is harry reed said we are not taking your bill and

the house said we are not taking the senate bill and we were in a stand still. which is why it did not get done. now after the election, we have the ability to get our ideas to the president's desk so we can negotiate with him. >> jack? >> very simple question. is the republican house caucus and the republican senate caucus now more or less charitably disposed to comprehensive immigration, i would say less. >> after his actions? >> after the election? the new republican senators from what i saw, they are not inclined to embrace anything approaching comprehensive immigration reform and i think some of the new house members are the same. and they are the ones that are going to get the most attention fairly or not. last night, if i may, last night, watching your network and fox. >> oh, that must have been fun. >> cnn was covering college costs, which is another thing. who did hannity book? michelle bachmann and he did not book you, did he? and i think --

>> that is not his fault. i mean, don't pick on aaron. he is a good guy. >> i'm sympathizing with aaron, that is not who the folks are turning to. and i can't understand -- >> that feeds to your point, the method at which the president is using that will be the distraction to getting something done. so congressman, last night in listening to the president, what was aggravating to the methodology to the president's executive action, leading with border security and leading with wanting to do immigration reform and talking about protecting american families, not felons. what was aggravating to your ear about that approach? >> what was aggravating was had that i agreed with a lot of what he said, but i did not deal with his action. his executive action tammys to do legislatively what he wants the congress to do. that is getting around the operation of powers of our congress. he talks about a visa program

for people that are in college that he wants to keep. he talks about border security, additional bored security. so, this is not just another clinton, regan bush type order. it's sweeping and so what was aggravating from my standpoint was mr. president, if you really want to do those step by step issues you just outlined then come work with congress. >> what's the part, jeff, from your covering presidents over decades and the strategies for negotiation, and the behind the scenes part, is there something missing from this process, was the president's action last night provocative because it missed something else? >> what is missing is what has changed completely in washington. every time i hear the auction about well, this is what reagan and tip o'neal used to do. >> right. >> i mean, this is what clinton and newt gingrich used to do. >> everything looks good in retrospect. >> that is right. and there's a change here. you know, part of the thing that

i was thinking about, was back five years ago when the republicans drew lines in the sands in first weeks after obama's inaugural, a lot of them said this is good for us, because the american power pl-- public does not like obstructionism. do you think it has hurt the republican party? >> yes. >> take a look at the mid terms. >> we have passed bills ou s ou the house. i'm tired of hearing how republicans were obstructionists, we have passed 380 bills. >> all right, willie geist sits down with brooke shields, next on "morning joe." holiday music ) hey! i guess we're going to need a new santa

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brooke shields' legendary jean commercials, which she says she still has some in storage. she's here to talk about her new book. good morning, good to see you. >> thank you. >> the most important news out of this book, not only do you still have those jeans, they still fit you. >> my mom saved everything. she saved two pairs from that commercial. one, i gave to the met, as one does with their jeans. >> of course, old jeans. >> ah, give them to the met. the other one, they go up so far. >> well, it was a different time. >> it looks like sausage encased. >> but they fit. to your great credit. let's talk about what this book is and what it's not. >> okay. >> this is not, like, your life story. this is the story with your mother. and i think the impression that people have -- some people

anyway, of your relationship with your mother, that it was kind of a mommy dearest thing. she put you in "pretty baby" when you were 12 and the commercial when you were 15. that's not really the way it was though, was it? >> it's not. i'm not trying to discredit that we did do all of those things. but the main sort of point that i was trying to make is i wasn't a victim. you know, i wasn't -- we weren't making career decisions as to what meant any difference now to the next job, to the next, the next. we were just in this business. we were sort of taking what was offered to us. if it worked, if it paid, if we were able to get a car, a house. you know. we sort of just did these willy-nilly jobs. >> was there any part of you later in life that looks back and says, ooh, "pretty baby," maybe i was too young for that? >> no, those are the more enduring pieces of art that i'm

involved with. there's plenty of other things whether it's a brooke at all or a bizarre jeans campaign that failed or all of a sudden now selling shampoo or whatever the thing is, you know, that i was -- secret. underarm. you know, those are the things that i sort of look and think, that's a disconnect. how do you start with "pretty baby" and that's the trajectory of your career. that's, a, giving my mom a lot of credit for even thinking of a plan. and also thinking that, you know, there was something about those -- those particular jobs that were important. and i think we knew it. you know, we knew we were doing something unique when we did the commercials. we were making commercials that were a minute long that were supposed to be played in movie theaters. and at the last minute, they pulled then and said, oh, they'll never be advertising in movies. we were able to be at the forefront of some of that stu and that's what was fabulous

about it. but that's not a sexy story. sexy story is the drunk mother who sells her daughter into prostitution. like that's the headline -- >> knowing you and how grounded you are and how in touch and present in people's lives you are with your husband and your kids. i read this book and i say, my god, look at the life she's lived. is it ever crazy to you that you didn't stumble somewhere along the way there? >> for the longest time, i didn't know why i was -- why i was graced, you know, why i was saved. why there was this sort of saving grace about it. i used to attribute it to everybody else. but i do think there was something -- i have to now start owning up to something. there's a bit in my character that will not be the victim. >> i have to ask you because there's this big chunk at the end of the book dedicated to you being at the bedside of your mother as she's dying. and it is absolutely gut

wrenching when you read what you two have been through together, to say good-bye. you describe it as the moment you feared all your life. what was it like? it was during hurricane sandy. there you are, running on generators at a hospital in new york. there's your mom. you watching her leave you. >> it's nothing -- you know, i wouldn't have had it, excuse me. any other way. i knew i needed to be there because i never would have forgiven myself. but it's a horrific thing. there's no hallmark moment. you know, there's no -- and it's not even a exhale like it is in the movies. and it's -- there's something bizarre, there's something kind of freakishly funny, there's something psychotically horrible. you're watching it, thinking, okay, i'm going to get this, i'm going to understand it. i'm going to internalize it. and i don't know anything more

about it now than i did before, you know, it's like ah. >> i think you turned to the nurse and said, is this it? >> yeah, she was doing -- >> she was busy. >> she had a lot on her plate that day. >> brooke, i can't say enough good things about this book and what an incredible life you and your mother had together and now what an incredible mother you are and wife and it's just been fun to get to know you. you must read this book. it's called "there was a little girl." the real story of my mother and me. thank you, brooke. we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

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if you register, pass a criminal background check and you're willing to pay your fair share of tax, you'll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily without fear of deportation. you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. all we're saying is we're not going to deport you. i know some of the critics of this action call it amnesty. well, it's not. amnesty is the immigration system we have today. >> good morning. it is friday, november 21st. welcome to "morning joe." can you believe it's friday? it's sort of been a long week. that was the president last night. pretty amazing speech. with us on set, we have msnbc political analyst, visiting professor at nyu, harold ford jr. did the president do well? >> thought he gave a good

speech. >> good speech. controversial? >> no doubt about it. >> the president and ceo of united states hispanic chamber of commerce, javier palamerez joins the table. good to have you on board for just this reason. and in washington, the host of al jazeera america's "inside story" ray suarez. thank you very much for being on this morning. before we get to i grammigratiod the big conversation about that, we want to start this morning in upstate new york where a massive snowstorm is expected to wrap up finally after pounding the buffalo region in the last few days. this has been breaking news over the past 36 hours. the storm now being blamed for at least ten deaths after dropping more than seven feet of snow in some areas. seven feet. roof collapses are a major concern. with warmer temperatures expected this weekend, flooding will be an issue as well. nbc's lester holt has more on this. >> reporter: more than 100 patients evacuated in this nursing home in chicktogowa when

the roof showed signs of collapsing. >> there's a potential for it. >> reporter: more than 2 dozen people driven from the roads by whiteout conditions and deep snow have been holed up in this walmart store since tuesday. >> couldn't ask for a better place to be stranded. >> reporter: from the air, we could see entire sections of the buffalo area painted in white. rooftops that look as if they've been slathered in whipped cream. >> we worked our way south of buffalo and it gets a lot worse. these are unplowed streets. we can count dozens of cars that were stopped in their tracks, barely the roof is visible. it's like "the day the earth stood still." >> reporter: there are neighborhoods still cut off, surrounded by chest deep snow. we venture down one cul-de-sac on foot where we can only shout a conversation with mary ann. have you ever seen it like this.

>> i've never seen it like this. >> reporter: officials say they're doing their best to reach those facing emergencies and are reminding home brown residents to take precautions. >> you're looking at the latest photos from the buffalo bills football stadium which is covered in snow. their scheduled game on sunday against the jets have been moved to monday night at ford field at detroit. they're trying to get people to shovel it out. that is just impossible at this point. bill karins with the latest. >> these snow total are also off the chart. the highest total we have in is over seven feet of snow in this three-day event. it's really two storms that were separated by one day. all through that area, hamburg with 80 inches. orchard park where the stadium was located was 71. al de n, new york, 56. sarah sent me this picture. she's finally free. a front loader came in overnight and dug her out.

her son climbing the mountain of snow now in her front yard. that snow's not going anywhere. we are going to melt a considerable amount this weekend. we're going to get to 51 on sunday, 61 on monday. it will be a little humid out there too so that melts the snow faster. half-inch of rain. we are worried about flooding. worst damage was done by snow and the weight of the snow. the good news is, over the weekend, warm air builds across the country. are two weeks of january-type weather over with after today. >> bill, we've got the big news now this morning out of washington. in the words of president, we were strangers once too. last night in a speech to the nation, the president made the emotional case for wide-ranging immigration reform. with a nod to the political blowback that lies ahead. curry favor for the plan that he says focuses on deporting felons, not families. the white house says the plan

shifts resources to the boarder, streamlines immigration courts and protects human trafficking victims. it would remove barriers for foreign workers to come here and stay longer, especially in the high-tech industry. but the centerpiece prevents the deportation of as many as 5 million americans. most of whom are the parents of children who were born on u.s. soil. while he argued every president since eisenhower has taken executive action on immigration, it is clear the president is aware of the perilous politics ahead. >> don't let a disagreement over a single issue be a deal breaker on every issue. that's not how our democracy works. and congress certainly shouldn't shut down our government again just because we disagree with this. >> let's look at how "the new york times," first line, president obama chose confrontation over conciliation. i know you support what the president has done. however what could have been more conciliatory in terms of the moves here?

>> i think first and foremost, our association of 3.2 million hispanic owned firms in this country that collectively contribute over $486 billion to the american economy stand in support of the president's action. it is not the panacea that anybody has hoped for. >> i get that. i understand that. you and i are on the same page. could he have been more conciliatory? could he have waited? could he have given him a deadline? >> certainly, i think he could have. the reality of it, there's a bipartisan bill that has sat in the congress now for over a year. we prefer some action versus no action at all. >> ray suarez what do you think? >> well, certainly, there was risk involved for the president, but it might have even been a bigger risk to wait any longer. the president's been calling for congress to act on this for a long time, for years, in fact. congress couldn't even pass the dream act which for a long time was considered the low-hanging fruit of immigration reform. if you couldn't take the most sympathetic immigrants, people

who were brought here as babes in arms in many cases, and make them at least safe from deportation, what little could you accomplish? the house had a long time to do something on this. did nothing. the president was advised by many to act earlier this year in advance of the elections. he didn't. his clock was running. he was under a lot of pressure too. >> yet, willie geist, the republicans already sounding the alarm here. >> it almost goes without saying, republicans are incensed about this. using the president's own words against him now. >> the president has said before he's not kin. and he's not an emperor. but he's sure acting like one. he's doing it at a time when the american people want nothing more than for us to work together. >> he was talking about immigration that day. i know that some wish that i could just bypass congress. and change the law myself. but that's not how a democracy works. indeed, mr. president, it isn't.

>> looked at the president's previous comments on executive authority and what he's saying now. according to the site, it is false when he says his position has not changed. saying the move will only embolden more desperate people to make the dangerous crossing to the united states from mexico. there is key division on how best to respond to the president. many considering legal action. some are pushing for surgical budget strikes. others have dangled the idea of a shutdown. others still will not fully rule out impeachment. >> appropriation bills are the one area in which the senate and congress can prioritize funding. we can defund areas of president obama's lawlessness. we should do so. we should use the power of the purse. that happens all the time. >> -- on the republicans if they do that? >> not if it's very targeted, very limited. what are we talking about? denying a couple million cars worth of spending issuing those

permits? this is not threatening government shutdown or anything drastic. >> a resolution of disapproval. second would be a censure. third would be to cut out of the appropriation bills those funds that would fund this. that's the progressive effort of this moving forward. but i don't want to do the last thing. i don't want to do the "i" word. nobody wants to throw the nation into that kind of turmoil. the president has thrown us into this situation. >> you hear some caution being exercised there. senator lindsey graham joined that chorus. he said, quote, if you overreact, it becomes about us and not about president obama. harold ford, where does this go from here? we've got the executive action. we're going to have a republican house and senate come january. they could pass their own law that the president could then veto. >> the president said do it. pass the bill. >> hopefully they do that. i think first of all, i think the substance of what the president said last night was spot on. there's no doubt these are steps that should have been taken. i think the timing is wrong. it probably would have been better to give the republican new congress three months to have acted on this.

they chose not to, the president would have still had the opportunity to act back on executive action. don't agree with the president or ray on that, this should have been done. interest will be ramifications for there. the republicans warned kwint fra quite frontily before this happened. this issue is important. it may end up being the only issue that gets done over the next several months because republicans are hopefully not stupid enough to try to impeach the president or equally silly and try to shut down government. i do think the democratic party in the congress is going to have reverberations from this and it could be negative. >> do you agree? do you think the timing is perhaps a little bit evocative? putting the republicans in a place where, again, they do what they always do, try and knock down what he's done instead of try and come up with something productive. he could have give be them time to do. >> no doubt, it was provocative. the fact of the matter is, he's the leader. he attempted to lead. i think there's a wonderful

opportunity here for the republican party to look at this as a wonderful option. the reality of it is, there's an amazing electorate. hispanic electorate that is growing by leaps and bounds. every month in this country, 52,000 hispanics turn 18 and become an eligible voter. every 30 seconds, an hispanic turns 18 and becomes an eligible voter. the republicans have an opportunity to ingratiate themselves to that electorate and finishing what has begun long before president obama came along. >> ray, do you think the republicans are going to see this as a wonderful opportunity? >> no, they're not going to see it as a wonderful opportunity. but i think it is clear that in some ways the president has painted them into a corner. it's true when the president says what he's done is very limited. it only is in effect for, in effect, the life of his administration. it cab be rescinded by the next president. it can be overridden by legislation. but do the republicans want to

aggressively move to break up families to start sending people home by using their legislative tools that they've been reluctant to use so far? the president, they're making believe they've never heard of prosecutorial discretion. all he did was move them to the back of the line for waiting to be deported. he can't regularize their status. he didn't do that. do the republicans want to move in there and say no, sorry buddy, you're getting on the next plane? i don't know if they want to do that. >> javier, i know this is a question with a long answer. what is your membership? what do you think hispanics, latinos in general are looking on? what is a sound immigration policy? >> i think comprehensive, permanent. we are an organization that focuses on economic development.

anything that helps entrepreneurs and small business in this country is what we're looking for. there is an opportunity here to illustrate desperately needed leadership and collaboration in this country. that's what american business wants right now, clarity. >> the white house is pushing forward with its pick for a top treasury post. despite growing criticism from democrats. noticeably, senator elizabeth warren. the administration has no plans to pull back on the nomination of antonio weiss, a former global investment banker who critics say helped companies avoid taxes by moving their addresses overseas. in an online op-ed, entitled "enough is enough," senator warren writes, in part, this, it is time for the obama administration to loosen the hold that wall street banks have over economic policymaking. sure, big banks are important. but running this economy for american families is a lot more important. politico describes warren's

growing power in the party as a test for senator schumer who is looking to strike a balance between them. in a poll of thousands of members of the left leaning group democracy for america. she definitely has popularity on left and the far, far left for sure. bill cosby is scheduled to take the stage tonight for a performance, as the list of women accusing him of sexual assault grows. a 57-year-old florida nurse says cosby drugged and raped her in las vegas when she was 19. but she continued to see him. and later asked for and received thousands of dollars from him. >> he changed the course of my life. instead of empowering me like he says he does to people, he made me a victim, and all my life, i've been a victim because of

this. that doesn't go away for all the days of my life. >> the wife of the incredible hulk actor lou ferrigno is also speaking out. claims cosby tried to force himself on her at his home in 1967 but she was able to get away. new york's daily news says it has an exclusive interview with another woman who says the comedian lured her into a hotel room in 1992 and assaulted her. and an actress who appeared in "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" says cosby forced her to perform oral sex in a tonight show dressing room. cosby's attorneys disputed the allegations. saying, the stories are getting more ridiculous. i think people are trying to come up with these wild stories in order to justify why they have waited 40 to 50 years to disclose these ridiculous accusations. the producers of "the cosby

show" break their silence saying the being accusations are beyon knowledge or comprehension. florida is scheduled to appear tonight in melbourne. he did not address allegations last night during a show in the bahamas. in the past, cosby has denied allegations made by other women. has never been criminally charged. >> he's going to have to company out and say something at some point. it's getting away from him. if these allegations are true. it's obviously horrible. that ap interview he did a couple nights ago where he on camera asked the correspondent to edit out the question and his response about this. >> he didn't even respond. >> kind of what i thought was telling. none of this is proven. but he needs to talk about it. >> still ahead, the congressman from california joins the conversation. ahead of the president's event

in las vegas today. first, "breaking bad" fans rejoice. amc sets a premiere date for the highly anticipated "better call sal." i love him. he's one of my favorite characters. you know who i'm talking about? the lawyer guy. after a very public falling out with "the new york times," jill abramson appears to have her next project lined up. now that the elections are finally over, it's time to get to work fixing our long-term national debt to help build a stronger economy. with a solid fiscal foundation, we can create more jobs, invest more in innovation and infrastructure, and make america more competitive, giving our kids a better future. a bipartisan solution to our long-term debt

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time now to take a look at the morning papers. business insider -- this is very interesting. a walmart in oklahoma is holding a food collection for its own employees. according to the store manager, idea of the food drive came from an employee who wanted to help co-workers experiencing hardship. critic, say the drive is proof walmart does not pai its employees enough. the company maintains it is simply employees taking care of each other it the average hourly wage at walmart, full and part-time employees, is $11. >> "the new york times" executive editor of "the new york times," former, jill abramson may launch a new journalism website with the huffington post. reports say the talks are ongoing but a decision is expected soon. >> "the wall street journal," "better call sal." the prequel to amc's hit show

"breaking bad" is set to air on sunday february 8th. the new show will run for ten episodes during its first season and amc has given the green light for a second season. exciting. >> cannot wait. >> love him. >> in an interview with "usa today," suspended vikings running back adrian peterson appears to show the remorse commissioner goodell said had been lacking. peterson said he will never again use a switch on his child, admitting there are better ways to discipline. he said, quote, no one knows how i felt when i turned my child around after spanking him and seeing what i had left on his leg. no one knows that dad sat there and apologized to him, hugged him and told him that i didn't mean to do this to you and how sorry i was. peterson also shared his hopes to return to the vikings. said he's looking forward to an opportunity to meet face-to-face with goodell to share his regret in person. >> all right. "usa today," thanksgiving travel is expected to reach its high ev level since 2007. aaa estimates 46 million people will travel at 50 miles or more

to celebrate the holiday. that's up 4.2% from last year. gas has also reached its lowest level in five years with the average price of regular down. you driving somewhere? >> not very far. >> you have any suggestions on what people should pack this holiday season? >> they're patient. >> you wanted that so badly. >> st. louis post dispatch. a u.s. marine who was paralyzed from the chest down by a sniper bullet in afghanistan will do something today that he once thought impossible. he will walk across the stage to receive his bronze star. we love this story. the captain will use a robotic exoskeleton, a divide callevise

rewalk, to walk today. congressman tony cardenas join us. plus, the immigration pitch to voters today. political reporter jon ralston is standing by. >> the newest anchor sitting behind the "snl" weekend update desk. the man who is following in the foot steps of legends like tina fey, jimmy fallon, these guys are funny. you'll meet them after this. denver international is one of the busiest airports in the country. we operate just like a city, and that takes a lot of energy. we use natural gas throughout the airport - for heating the entire terminal, generating electricity on-site, and fueling hundreds of vehicles. we're very focused on reducing our environmental impact. and natural gas is a big part of that commitment.

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it has helped so many of our families. i know for him it is a personal issue. even though whatever else is involved with it, i think at the end of the day, it's going to be about the families that have met him, the families that have interacted with him. i don't think any other senator in this country has taken the time like him to actually go to our homes to meet with us, to actually see how we live. there's a lot of candidates that are running for lower offices that don't even take the time to do that. >> all right. that was an immigration activist from las vegas. one of the so-called dreamers who president obama mentionneedn

his speech last night. joining us now, host of ralston reports, jon ralston. from los angeles, democratic congressman tony cardenes from california, elected by his colleagues to lead the main fund-raising arm for the congressional hispanic caucus. also with us from washington, the host of msnbc's "the rundown," jose diaz-balart. good to have you. jon, the president's heading your way today. what is his strategy to drive the point home? >> las vegas has a large hispanic population. the largest hispanic population in the country at about 7%. he has been to the high school where he's going to sign the executive action twice before, including in january of 2013, when he laid out what he hoped was going to be the immigration reform bill that passed. there's a lot of symbolism here.

but it's also a big favor i think to harry reid who you just met, you just saw. harry reid has talked a lot about astrid silva. the president brought up astrid silva in his speech. what's not as well known is astrid silva's father has been under a deportation order for some time and it appears he is going to be covered by this executive action. >> jose diaz-balart, i'd like you to take it to representative cardenes. first, give me a sense of how you think the president did last night. >> for millions of people in this country who have been living here for more than five years who have u.s. born children or residents in the united states, this is a life changing thing. because even though it's going to be limited for a three-year period, this is going to be the opportunity of millions and millions of families to company out from under the shadows of fear and be able to participate in this country in a way they've

been doing, many of them, for many years, but now they will be able to do so without the fear of disappearing. there are millions of people that every day leave their homes, to drop their children off at the bus stop or to go to work and don't know if they are going to come home at the end of the day because they don't have the papers. this is a life-changing thing for millions of people. and we have to remember, the last six years, 2 million people have been deported from the united states. that's the entire city of houston that has been deported. and this is going to mean a b big -- for millions of people. >> when we look at this and we think about astrid silva and her dad, their situation existed prior to the midterms. and that's painful for their family. it's painful for millions of families that are suffering just

like theirs. but how does this not look just blatantly political from the president not trying to steal the football from the republicans try to get any type of senate from being the ones to helm immigration reform for congress and he's trying to get credit for it, the president that has supported millions of people as jose points out. >> everybody in every elected office has a job. the president is the executive branch. they have a responsibility to exercise and follow through with the laws that have been enacted and the right to interpret them as well. that's what an executive order is about. the one thing i want everybody to understand, this is not just about 4 million undocumented people who are working really hard. it's about over 300 million americans. i say it's really three top issues that we're covering here with this executive action. and that is the economy, the economy, the economy. the president just set in motion an additional close to $4.5

billion over the next five years. >> congressman, why do this now? why not do this? astrid's situation, her father's situation, the situation for millions of people that have been struggling through a broken immigration system has existed and it has languished for a very long time. the president campaigned on this in '08. here we are now in his last two years seeing some type of executive action. and this is now the time where we're seeing the gop-led house, the gop-led senate, saying that they want to lead. take the football on this. and this is just the democrats saying we don't want to give you any credit for immigration reform and getting any type of thunder with the latin community. >> i would love for the republicans to take credit. the 14 republican senators should take credit. they help pass a bill. 68 out of 100 u.s. senators. this is actually instead of bipartisan tripartisan. there were two independent

senators who voted for it and 52 democrats. 68 united states senators voted for this legislation. now it's been sitting in our house. republican-controlled house. for over 500 days. so i think what happened is the president finally said enough is enough. we need to take care of our economy. we need to take care of business. and the bottom line is, like i said earlier, it's not about the president doing anything that congress didn't do. it's about the president doing something to help our economy forward. the congress refuses to do. so he's using his authority to interpret the current laws and he actually did a wonderful job. >> congressman tony cardenes, thank you. thank you very much. still ahead, willie geist goes behind the scenes of "saturday night live's" weekend update as the late-night comedy show enjoys its 40th season on the year. more "morning joe" when we return. ♪ ♪

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chevy chase, tina fey, seth meyers, amy poehler, just a few who made names for themselves on "snl's" weekend update this season. a two-man orananchor team is att famous deck. as they gear up for their seventh "weekend update" here tomorrow night. it's the longest running sketch in "saturday night live" history. over the past 40 years, it has featured some of the biggest names in american comedy. this year, a new team has suited up to deliver the news. >> good evening. welcome to "weekend update." >> this week, president obama travelled to asia to meet with

leaders from china, russia and japan to deal with some pretty tough questions like who wore it best. >> new research shows that reindeer in norway have an unusually high level of radiation from dust due to the 1986 chernobyl meltdown. in fact, you could even say they glow. >> like his friend and predecessor seth meyers, colin is not just an anchor man, he's also snl's co-head writer. joined by one-time "daily show" correspondent michael cha. >> how long have you known each other? did your paths cross before this? >> yeah, what do you think, two, three years? >> no, it's got to be more than that. about three years. >> what do you remember about colin watching him do stand-up? >> like, great hair. >> good takeaway. >> like a white me.

>> was michael the kind of guy who stands out to you? >> i saw him and really just wanted to have him here because i thought he was super funny. >> collins picked up the phone and called michael. in the space of a year, he has gone from guest writer to full-time anchor. >> i remember colin saying would you come in to guest write. i was like, sure. but i didn't know what guest write meant. i thought i would be shadowing a writer and getting coffee. maybe getting a bagel maybe or something like that, but that would be my job. but it wasn't. >> would you intern? >> yeah, that's what i honestly thought. >> as the pair finds its groove, six episodes in, one thing the guys are trying not to do is stop and think about the big seats they fill. >> chevy, jane curtin, norm, colin, jimmy, amy, tina, seth. >> it is crazy when you think about it. we can't think about it, you know, you have to be funny. >> i'm sure you know there are

entire blogs dedicated to this sketch and we're going to grade this week and we're going to -- >> can i just say, listen, just enjoy the show. don't grade it. if it's not funny, just don't laugh. no one's getting hurt. >> i give that an "a." >> thank you. >> colin and michael gave me a behind the scenes peek at "saturday night live" where i learned the secrets of the show's success. through the hallowed, if somewhat sparse halls once walked by the likes of belushi and farley. >> hallway getting narrower like "alice in wonderland." and into the luxurious writers room where "snl" comedy has been born for 40 years. >> photos of anyone's who been a credited writer. conan o'brien. adam sandler. >> while they may not have the instant recognition of conan or larry david, one of them has his first doppelganger.

>> i'm told that we look an awful lot alike. i get that on twitter a lot. >> yeah, yeah. we do. i never seen it but yeah. >> do you get this ever? i think we're just two generic white guys maybe. do you think i look like michael che? you tell me. we're back with morn "morning joe"? just a moment. [ male announcer ] some come here

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welcome back to "morning joe." 46 past the hour. democrats are dealing with some party in fighting when it comes to a far reaching report on the cia's use of torture. several senators were locked in a closed door standoff on thursday with president obama's chief of staff. the lawmakers accuse the white house of siding with the intelligence agency in efforts to scrub key details included in the findings. democrats are reportedly concerns that the release of the report may be dragged out even longer. now that republicans are taking control of congress. senator mark udall, who lost his bid for re-election, is considering options to bypass the white house altogether. and declassify the report without the blessing of the executive branch. thomas. >> the pentagon is not waiting for approval from congress before deploying additional

american troops to iraq. the military suggested that it would wait for legislation, wait on the funding from capitol hill before the mission began. it's still unclear when lawmakers will act on a multibillion dollar request to fund operations against militants. the president announced he would send another 1,500 american troops to the region and train and advise iraqi forces in the fight against isis. >> former president jimmy carter is offering up some criticism of former secretary of state hillary clinton for defending israel's response to rocket attacks over the summer which left thousands of palestinians dead. >> that concerns me s me to som degree. i said earlier my main prayer's to bring peace to israel. you have to do it with justice and fairness to the palestinians. and there's not equality in military power between the palestinians and israel.

i've been to gaza after the attacks in 2008, 2009. every school in gaza was completely destroyed, including the american school. every hospital in gaza was destroyed. >> full interview with president carter will air on his show today at 1:00 eastern right here on msnbc. >> new details emerging about the florida state aluminas who opened fire, wounding three people before being killed by police. officials identify the shooter as 31-year-old myron may of new mexico, an attorney who graduated from fsu in 2005. his family says he returned to florida a few weeks ago, hoping to open a law practice there. investigators say they found journals written by may that led them to believe he was in a state of crisis at the time of shooting and was holding deep fears of the government. just before 12:30 thursday morning, may shot three people at the school's main library as

hundreds were studying for exams. authorities say one shooting victim is in critical condition. another now listed in good condition. the third was treated and released. >> all right. time now for business before the bell. we go to cnbc's sara eisen. the market looks like it's opening up higher this morning. what's driving it? >> well, there is this friday morning celebration. and the driver is central banks. not in this country, but globally. we got some comments very early this morning from europe, the head of the central bank there saying he's open to doing more when it companies to stimulus for europe's economy. also china cut interest rates. that was a surprise. it's basically an indication that easy money, easy policies all over the world, even if they're coming from overseas, continue to drive money into u.s. stocks. and with that said, we are set to open at record highs for the s&p 500, for the dow jones industrial average and 14 1/2 year highs for the nasdaq, the

tech heavy index. we're looking at our fifth week in a row of gains. a lot of people talk about the santa claus rally where the markets jump toward the end of the year. better economic data in this country and easy central bank action overseas and that is a recipe for pretty strong stock market at the open. >> behind you, can you tell him it's looking good. >> yeah. >> excellent. >> thumbs up, yeah. >> he was having a hard time there. >> wearing a tie on casual friday. it really has been a pretty solid week. i want to underscore the news in this country, guys, has been good on the economy. you talk about retailers during this time of the year. we got the latest report from gap beating expectations. retailers have had challenges lately with store traffic and getting people through, having to deal with a lot of promotions. but overall, everyone from on the low income scale and the middle income scale like walmart and target have been beating the streets forecast and even some

of the higher retailers as well. all in all, it's been a pretty solid week. >> awesome, sara eisen, thank you very much. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today. (vo) you are a business pro. maestro of project management. baron of the build-out. you need a permit... to be this awesome. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (aaron) purrrfect. (vo) meee-ow, business pro. meee-ow. go national. go like a pro. you've been part of this family for as long as i can remember. and you just mean so much to all of us.

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who is here to give us the latest effort to take on ebola in west africa. i've been on several airlifts when i was much younger as a journalist and also as a citizen, as a volunteer. you guys are amazing. when there is a disaster anywhere in the world, you swarm the area with the help that is ne needed. for ebola, you guys have got three treatment units in liberia alone, plus what else? >> we've been working this since april. we have the first call from one of our partner hospitals there in april, saying we've got some ebola cases, what can you do for us? we've been providing personal protective equipment. iv fluids for patients. over 4 million relief items. we also mobilized medical teams to go and serve there. >> so part of what you do is to get companies to jump in and try to get the support from wherever you can find it. medical supplies, food, whatever. how has the response been to

getting help to where the problem is, west africa? >> it's an interesting response. i think our government has responded well. maybe a little slowly, but relatively well in terms of setting up these ebola treatment units. we've had great support from our corporate partners who are there with a lot of material aid. this has not caused a lot support from the american public generally. we need support for the efforts we're doing not only right now but considering what we need to do to accomplish long-term goals here. >> thomas. >> when we talk about the situation of the spread, michael, and the containment of that, where does it stand right now? countries like sierra leone, liberia? >> what we're seeing in liberia is the case counts coming down, which is really good news. that's a success story. we should be grateful for that. that's evidence the strategy's working. if you put health workers in there, you give them the materials they need and you train them, you do public information messaging to the people in the community, and it works. this works. now, it's not happening in

sierra leone quite as fast. the numbers are still rising there. guinea seems to be flattening out a little bit too. we've got a new scare in mali. this is not done by any means. >> who are the corporate partners who have been most helpful, you know, because it's -- i think -- were you saying to me this is hard to sell? >> to the general public. think most of the general republican has been the few cases in the united states. the reality is people are dying every day in west africa and that's where we really need to be focused. we need the general public to come stand with us as well. and support us the way they have done in earthquakes and typhoons and those sorts of incidents as well. we need them along. corporate partners have been great. the company backster donated 50,000 bags of iv fluids. and cardinal health just hundreds and hundreds of thousands of items of personal protective gear, masks and gloves and boots and gloun s a.

we need the public to stand up too. >> when we talk about health workers, we have is the extreme situation where we just had the unfortunate loss of a 44-year-old american doctor who passed away after coming back from sierra leone. and then we have the huge example of kaci hickox who came back and was treated with the isolation in maine. from what you're hearing on the inside is that stopping people from wanting to be of service? >> no, it's not stopping people. we've had a tremendous su brt from american doctors and nurses we've contacted, asked them to go. this is really to me the great spirit american compassion. this is what we do. people see a crisis. they know we need a response. they raised their hand to go. we were talking with one of the nurses we placed there in liberia. she was going to go for an eight-week rotation. she said, i'm going to stay longer and do more. this is the great american spirit. >> i know from having been a volunteer and gone on these airlifts, these are hard.

this is grueling hard work that, you know, a lot of people -- >> no, that's true. >> people of ameri cares, like if you want the most fantastic experience of your life, volunteer, donate. >> i just want to say about the health workers that are going, these are people who are going to give up their holidays, they're going to give up their comfort. these are people who are sweating it out in their protective equipment. and yet they say we want to stay, we want to keep doing it. they're responding in the great spirit of american compassion. >> it is great to have you. good luck with everything. i learned i'm a johns hopkins mom. my daughter's home from vacation. "the rundown" with jose diaz-balart is up next. >> i know some of the critics of this action call it amnesty. well, it's not.