♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm this morning my question, what does the panama canal have to do with childhood asthma in new jersey? and the family that is still at risk of separation despite executive action on immigration. plus reflecting on a day of protests. but first, what our favorite toys tell us about who we are. good morning, i'm melissa harris-perry, it is the hole i day season and today i thought it might be useful to pause and talk about something that is on the minds of many, toys. remember the toy crazes of by

gone years, the furby in 1998, paying three times the retail price for furbies for more than $100? people have barely recovered from the tickle me elmo in 1996, in one case, 300 people jostling for a store's last remaining tickle me elmo left a store clerk with a broke on rib and a concussion. cartier used the toy to market a million dollar diamond necklace. that came with a tickle me elmo doll included. but before all those hot toys, it was the cabbage patch in 1983. you would think money was being given away. but the mad rush was for a doll.

the cabbage patch kid doll, shoppers went wild, there were no rules, they pushed -- this woman won, she got the doll without the wrapping. and while the recession of 2008 and the sluggish consumer practices of recent years seem to have tempered toy madness, there are still pockets of christmas morning yearning driving parental retail choices. undoubtedly there it's a dad somewhere searching for the perfect elsa doll and accessories. the holiday season, u but it's too easy to just sit here and pass judgment, to claim that we have all lost sight of what is truly supposed to motivate the season.

because as unskrutable as it all seals, to be willing to sacrifice money and -- a moment like this one, that perfect moment for your kids when they get exactly what they wanted from santa, because face it, we remember the christmas we got just what we wanted and we remember the one where we didn't. for me it was 1984, you see, i thought that the big square box i found in my mom's closet was a mcintosh computer. i was so excited and i waited, and i waited and i saved that as the long box and i opened it and i found a globe. now a globe was certainly much more in line with my single mom's budget, but i can still feel the sting just a little bit. and sometimes there's even worse disappointment, when you get the toy you wanted and it just doesn't live up to the flashy commercials or the overhyped marketing.

so our toys are not just play things, they can also be a measure of our naughtiness or niceness. they can be a status symbol for kids? did you get the cabbage catch kid with the birth documents and everything? or it could have just been a doll. and just how in an economy of stagnant wages and financial insecurity do we get to a place of toy joy without breaking our household budgets and giving in to the madness of the latest fad. joining me now is elise elliott, and author of "pink brain blue brain." byron hurt who is an anti-sexism author and filmmaker. and marissa debartolo which is senior editor of the toy inside

us. are toy crazes a thing of the past or are there still things that will drive parents into anxiety over scarcity. >> of course you want to be that hero on christmas morning. but the manufacturers are on your side. those hero items, like this year's snow globe elsa, those items fall between that $25 and $50 range. so it's possible for parents, with online shopping, making stores more accessible, parents can be the hero pretty easily and manufacturers are ready to meet demand, and that t's other most important thing. some stores are actually limiting you to two per purchase so everyone has access to the doll. >> if i have a kid who's in this

age range, then it may be relatively easy, it may be relatively easy to be the hero on the holiday morning. but, i guess, clearly it is not just in this age range, maybe harder to become the hero when your kid is 13 or 15 years old. and all of a sudden it is an expensive electronic. part of what i'm wonderi ining the ways in which we buy still generates the sense that consumption is the thing the that makes us happy. on the one hand i want to be the hero too and i love toys. but i also wonder if we're teaching the wrong thing in that moment. >> i think that's a valid concern, as a parent, i have fallen into that trap of consumption, but i think the key is, as we're socializing our kids to understand that we live in a consumer society. if we start early in saying that here's a concrete object, but

then we want to also teach them the value of experience. and so sometimes experiences themselves become gifts. i recently had a conversation with my daughter where we were talking about, well, what do you want this christmas? yeah, what should i get you. and she said, well, you know you always give me experiences. and then i said, well what should i get my son noah. she said, well he's younger than i am and he's going to need something concrete. so that he can know that you love him. so i think some of it is developmental. we go from the concrete. but letting them understand the value of money, but also perhaps give them a warning that as time goes by we focus on experiences. >> it's not a small point to make that as a parent part of toy giving is really about values. and it's important to buy toys that fit youral values. i was given this fantastic set

of presidential building blocks, it has all of the 44 presidents, including president obama and all that, but i love that. but it's probably not the toy that will be most remembered, but it does at least fit my values. if you've got a son, if you've got a daughter, how do you buy the toys that say this is who we are? >> it's difficult and my wife and i struggle with that with my 5-year-old daughter. when you walk into a toy store, there's hundreds of toys, but none that really reflect youral values or what you want them to have. especially when it comes to dolls and things of that nature that affirm her identity, who she looks like, what she looks like, that can be very difficult when you walk into any retail store when you're trying to buy a gift for a young girl of color, there are so many toys that re-enforce all these

messages around race and around gender. so it's really, really challenging. >> in fact on the gender piece, when we went looking for the 2014 top toys, there isn't a single list, they're divided by gender. the top toys for girls include disney frozen, barbie, dolls, for boys, it's legos, cars and trucks, teenaged mutant ninja turtle. but there's two lists, one more boy s toys and one for girls toys. >> elizabeth sweet wrote this piece in the atlantic which points out that the genderization of toys is really new. we have always had toys and dolls, but they weren't put in a category for boys or girls. and we're already segregating so

much, in schools, in the workplace, there's so much to learn from toys. we need to cross train both boys and girls brains. >> and there's so much you learn from toys and toys actually do really important things for our economy. how big is the toy industry as an economic matter? >> the toy industry is a $22 billion a year industry, and that's pretty consistent regardless of economic changes, but the majority of those sales do happen in the fourth quarter because parents are out buying holiday toys. but yeah, it's a huge industry and it's so rooted in kids entertainment as well. >> there's a kind of strong nostalgic thing going on as well. has anyone actually ever been able to make a slinkie go down the stairs? >> absolutely. >> i tried to but i never have. >> i have never actually been able to make that happen. >> i think only during the commercial. >> you have to have the right length of stairs.

>> this is my single greatest toy disappointment, except of course for the globe situation. some are for girls and some are for boys, but why do we categorize all the toys. and some of the pictures you were kind enough to take. ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac.... ♪

♪ look here, daddy, i'm never coming back..... ♪ discover the new spirit of cadillac and the best offers of the season. lease this 2015 standard collection srx for around $359 a month. nineteen years ago, we thought, "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. visit angieslist.com today. ♪ but he's got sucht this blankisensitive skin that you worry about what you use in the laundry. so i use new tide pods free & gentle, to get a deep clean that's gentle on skin. new tide pods free & gentle.

ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less.

that is a live picture of the christmas tree at

rockefeller center. if you have a girl in your life, or you have seen the overwhelmingly pink girls section of your local big box store. you may think that girls have been obsessed with all things princess. princesses weren't much in the toy aisle in the 19 -- when a disney executive went to a disney on ice show and saw girls dressed in home made princess costumes and saw a retail opportunity. one can only speculate as to whether princess actually turned into a -- according to our next guest, toys are more divided by gender now than they were 50 years ago. joining me now from sacramento is elizabeth sweet. she her research focuses on gender and children's toys. so it's nice to have you.

we have all been reading your piece. tell us what do toys teach us about our gender roles. >> hey, melissa, thank you so much for having me. i think that toys really embody is different ideas about gender all the time. what i do in my research when i look at toys over to 20th century are the types of gender roles that are embodied in toys, so i observe in the 20th century, in the middle of the century, really a focus on domesticity and for girls a real focus on preparation for the industrial economy. but today that has changed, when you go in the toy aisle, it's all princess. and in the boy aisle, it's this action hero, superhero forum. we see this immediate too, when you look at tv shows and movies, we have princesses and we have

superheroes. >> hold on for one second, i'm going to come right back to you, let me ask about this, because honestly, i loved my toy kitchen for my daughter who's now 13 when he was maybe 2, but a toy vacuum and a toy iron would enrage me, why would a broom be fun to play with. >> they're imitating roles they see. and if they see gender divided roles, that's what they'll do. but if they see dad vacuuming the floor and vacuuming, it's perfectly fine for a son or a daughter to do that. the truth is that kids being hard wired towards certain toys is real-untrue. >> my boy will make a gun out of any long object. a stick, a saw, anything, and for my nephew, this has been a

challenge, and on the one hand, when you look at the context of a 12-year-old boy shot on a playground for holding a toy gun, this isn't even a game we're talking about. so do you push back against it, or do you say no, no, no don't even pretend, or do you recognize that this is just the way boys play. >> the preoccupation with guns with boys and girls really starts early. i wonder how much of it is biologically, how much of it is socially learned. i think it's more socially learned than anything else. but i think we should push back on it especially given the violence we see in our society with guns. using guns to solve conflict is associated with your manhood and your masculinity, if that starts really early, 3, 4, 5, 6 years old, i think you can see a trajectory where you see this pattern of violence.

>> where do you see your kids on the guns issue? >> i tell you, it's a really scary time, when i recently viewed the video of the 12-year-old being shot, a few minutes later i went up to my son's room and he was playing with the concept of a gun, because he has legos. and although we try to encourage him to build objects, buildings, et cetera, with the legos, he only builds guns, he constructs weapons, they're long, they're short. we took them away and that was literally out of fear. i had just seen the video and i can imagine him in a position in a park with legos pretending he's shooting someone, and that was a lot of fear. it makes you think as byron said is this biological because it's so early. >> even when there's parental push back. >> we talk a lot about the girl

side of this, but i'm wondering also about the boy side. whether or not through that question of playing with guns is actually sort of nature or nurture? >> it's interesting because guns in children's toys, i mean they vary the extent to which they were offered, so there's a political scientist to studied the prevalence of guns and mi s militaryized -- one thing i find in my research is that the level of aggression in toys targeted to boys has increased quite a bit or increased quite a bit in the last couple decades of the 20th century and i would argue it's far more prevalent today than anything i saw in the 20th century. so what you see are these -- the sort of hyper masculinization and hyper aggression in boys toys that's the counter point to

the hyper femininization of the pink girl aisle. >> if your 2-year-old, your 4-year-old is princessing it out. al they often still turn out just fine on the other end, 14, 16, doesn't mean they want be scrappy little stem scientists or does it? >> i don't think that just playing with these toys is going to brainwash children and that's a problem, but i do think it's really important to talk to kids about the messaging because what we know is that these social categorizization and the stereotypes about gender play a huge part in the processes of social inequality. so when girls are ste s arare i relationship that their looks -- this is problematic, i think it does have important ramifications for social i

inequality and we should be really troubled by the fact that our toys are far more divided by gender than they have ever been. >> thank you to elizabeth sweet in california. when we come back, why are some toys white and others are black?

ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself because it helps me skip the bad stuff. i'm good. that's what i like to call, the meta effect. 4-in-1 multi-health metamucil now clinically proven to help you feel less hungry between meals. experience the meta effect with our new multi-health wellness line. i love my meta health bars. because when nutritious tastes this delicious, i don't miss the other stuff. new meta health bars help promote heart health. experience the meta effect with our new multi-health wellness line. ♪

[ inhales deeply ] [ sighs ] [ inhales ] [ male announcer ] at cvs health, we took a deep breath... [ inhales, exhales ] [ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program. we just want to help everyone, everywhere, breathe a little easier. introducing cvs health. because health is everything. you may remember earlier this week we celebrated the 60 anniversary of the the segregation of schools.

kenneth clark conducted a day mouse doll study, he gave black children white or brown dolls to play with. across the board, black children chose the white dolls, and said they were nice when black dolls were bad. when asked to identify themselves with the brown dolls, some of them were reduced to crying. dew disney dock mcstuffin's, showing the black dolls are not only important but big business these days. when you have a character, she's not sexy, she's age appropriate, she's mostly brain, you know, big headed doll and does seem to be selling cross racial lines, she's a huge, huge disney character at this point and not

a princess. does that suggest to you something different going on in the doll world. >> doc has been around since 2012 and she's been in the top 10 toys for girls since 2012, and she's, you know, aspirati aspirational, she makes kids want to be a doctor just like her mother. so it's really egreat, and it's great to see, and she really does break down that whole racial barrier for kids, it's amazing. >> your research is right at the core of this question of the extent to which black baby dolls matter to less to sort of children who aren't african-american but to african-american girls in terms of building identity and sense of self, why do black dolls matter so much to black girls. >> black dolls are important because we all want to see ourselves sort of reproduced or reflected in aspects of society that we deem are important. when we look at the historical presence of black dolls in

society, we started with the stereotypical -- at the turn of the century, there was a very intentional movement by black leaders to sort of represent the idea of blackness in children's play. the thought was if we can reproduce the image of blackness in children's play, we also represent the image of blackness in children themselves. so it's significant that girls see themselves reflected, but it's important to know that dolls are not just about girls. the proper presentation of a doll is not just about black girls identity, it is also about the notion of a black man as he sees his counterpart. so in the -- at the turn of the 20th century, although many people feel that there were no genderization going on, in fact

there was. the black man signified the black woman, leaders such as richard boyd stated that north to change the mind of the black man, it was about mate selection at that point. how do we encourage black men, for example, to value not only themselves as black men, but also value the women that they should select in order to reproduce the race. in order to do that, we have to reproduce the image of the black man. >> so even as you're saying that, as you're thinking through sort of how it's not just about black girls who are seeing themselves, you're talking about what we learn, and part of the point of baby dolls is mothering. what if we also present dolls of different races, particularly to white girl children, if you could love and nurture a baby

doll of a different race, might that begin to break down some of the those implicit biases that we have been talking about so much in recent weeks. >> precisely, so black dolls are not important not just for black girls and boys and white girls and boys and latino girls and boys. you know, you develop relational skills, you learn how to parent. i'm really not a fan of the princess, the beautify indication, but baby dolls are a wonderful learning tool and boys and girls, actually young boys actually like dolls but they usually get discouraged from them, with a wayward glance from dad. men get very nervous when they see their kid playing with a stereo typical label girl toy. and we don't see it the other way around. >> right, you can gender cross girl to boy. >> we encourage it. >> right, we have pink footballs for you to buy for your girls. but we don't so much the other way. part then of what i'm trying to figure out is as we think about

play, as toys, everybody's out trying to be the hero on christmas morning. how do we do it in a way that isn't -- you don't want to preach to your children, you want your kids to play, you want their play then reproduces something you value in the world, as opposed to something that you don't? >> i want my little girl to be a little girl, i want her to have fun and i don't want to rob her of a childhood, and i want her to have toys and gifts and these different things, but i want her to see her own beauty, i don't want her sense of self to be chiseled away as she grows and as she matures so she doesn't value who she is. that's why it's important for me as a father and my wife as a mother to have access to smart black dolls like dr. mcstuffins.

>> latino dolls, that are identifiable within the latino community, asian dolls, are they going to make some inroads into the market? they're very marginalized in the market. >> this year one of mattel's toys is entrepreneur barbie, and if you put it in, you get a white version, a black version, an asian version. the facial structure is different the hair and obviously the skin color, but what is great about that, decades ago, the african-american barbie doll was named christy, now she's named barbie, on the box, all kids see is barbie, so that's an interesting thing for matel to do and it's an interesting standpoint for them to maker. >> it's certainly the

recognition that the market is shifting, even if barbie is not my favorite. doc ask my favorite. thank you to our guests. but up next, keeping families out of the lurch, the particular power unique to the church. i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points.

travel, gift cards, even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. get ready foat the volkswagen engineered holidsign-then-drive event. right now, for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. ah, the gift of clean diesel. for the new volkswagen on your list this year, just about all you need, is a pen. festive, isn't it? get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. my nai'm a lineman for pg&e out of the concord service center. i have lived here pretty much my whole life. i have been married for twelve years. i have 3 kids. i love living here and i love working in my hometown. at pg&e we are always working to upgrade reliability to meet the demands of the customers. i'm there to do the safest job possible - not only for them, but everybody, myself included

that lives in the community. i'm very proud to do the work that i do and say that i am a lineman for pg&e because it's my hometown. it's a rewarding feeling. we're for an opens you internet for all.sing. we're for creating more innovation and competition. we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some news you may find even more surprising. we're comcast. the only isp legally bound by full net neutrality rules.

if aunder a microscope, put we can see all the bacteria that still exists. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture everyday. who snooze-buttoned her morning run away... one cap of downy created such irresistibly soft sheets, she wanted to stay in bed forever. downy. surround yourself with three times the softening. three times on this program we have talked with reverend allison harrington, the reverend of south side presbyterian church. southside is part of a national

movement in which churches try to stop families from being torn apart by offering sanction to immigrants who face deportation. >> we're just trying to hold the administration accountable to the values that they profess. president obama has said we should not be in the business of tearing apart families. so here we are. we're trying to hold our administration accountable to their own policies. she's a mom just like me who adores her two little boys and who wants to be in the stands cheering them on in their little league games. >> that was reverend harrington back in august, before president obama announced his executive action on immigration. and the mother she's talking about is rosa logado. today after 120 days of not being able to step outside the church, rosa remains in

sanctuary, hoping her deportation order will be lifted because despite president obama's executive action, rosa remains at risk. reverend harrington's mission is to get rosa back home with her family by christmas. this week, she and others traveled to washington, d.c. to deliver petitions with 15,000 signatures urging senator mitch mcconnell to support president obama's action on immigration. reverend harrington and others also met with officials from the department of homeland security to get answers regarding the face of specific individuals now living in sanctuary, including rosa. joining me now from tucson, arizona, reverend allison harrington of south side presbyterian church. reverend harrington, it's so good so have you back with us. now that you have taken this trip to washington, do you know if it's going to be safe for

rosa to leave her church and to go home and spend the holidays with her family? >> like you said, i went to d.c. with rosa's son, 11-year-old geraldo to ask the senator to close her case. we don't know if she will be decorating her tree and putting presents under that tree for her boys. >> everyone was so excited to see the president take some kind of action given that there had not been any more comprehensive reform. i want you to take a listen to something you said back in june when question first had you on. >> we want these families to remain together, and we hope that voice, that moral voice speaking about the importance of family unity would indeed influence policy. >> when you heard president obama announce his executive action, did it sound to you like he was using that discourse about moral voice and family. >> i think in part he was seeing

the importance of keeping families together, a value that we hold dear, especially at this time of year with the holidays coming. there were some unfortunate things he said, i think that a lot of us recognize that, you know, he had this rhetoric of felons not families and i think a lot of us recognize that sometimes felons are family. and we certainly don't think that the mistakes that a person has made should be the thing that tears them apart from their family. so there was a lot that we celebrated but there's still a lot of questions that we have in terms of how this is going to be affect families like rosa's. >> when you went to the hill, were you able to meet with any republican members of the house or the senate and if so, what was your reception like there? >> well, we did a pray in at mitch mcconnell's office, and there were a few sanctuary family or families that were in sanctuary were able to spend some time telling their stories to mcconnell's chief of staff, so we hope that will move his

heart. and there were delegations from the various different cities that did meet with republican congress people and, you know, it's hard to know what the future looks like, but we're continuing to push forward saying that people like rosa should not be torn from their family. >> we were devastated to learn that the mother of another one of our guests, cynthia diaz who actually went on a hunger strike to secure her mother's release from detention is actually not protected under the new action. i want to take a moment to listen to something cynthia said the last time she was on our show. >> it was rough, you know, hearing president obama's announcement that what he said that parents of u.s. citizens can be eligible, except those who are recent to the united states and because of obama's 2 million deportations and my mom being one of them, she unfortunately does not qualify. >> so, you know, we realized

live on air, this was a family we care deeply about who's fallen through the cracks. who are the families that are you seeing that are falling through the cracks of this clear intent to do well by families? >> yeah, you know, it's still really unclear to us. there are people who are clearly going to fall through the cracks. and there are these other people that are in this inbetween place and we're not quite sure what the administration is going to do. so we wanted from the administration some clarity as who they viewed as a low priority, even folks who don't have u.s. citizen kids, there is this category of folks who do not present a threat to the fabric of our societies that the administration still sees as a low priority. we're just very concerned that these articulated poll u cities of the administration are not going to filter down to the practices of field offices. and right now for those who have deferred action or will be

eligible for deferred action, for these folks, they still have to wait a couple months until they're able to apply for deferred action. so we're very concerned that they are not issuing stays for these folks, because they're saying that line officers will be identifying people. and i think the administration is asking us to put our trust in boarderer patrol and in i.c.e. officials, folks who have not been trust worthy. >> and you don't have much reason to trust. thank you to reverend allison harrington in south side church. still to come this morning, how the panama canal changed everything for this country and it might do is all over again. . but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it.

ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra.

ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables.

well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. we're about to show a disturbing image, and this might be a moment when you want to turn away, but i do feel like we need to show it because this is from a story we need to highlight.

okay. now when you look at this image, it may not even be clear to you at first what you're seeing because we wouldn't want to think this still happens in the world. but this picture, part of an investigative series of our time shows a fevered baby lying in a crate. and the reason that baby is lying a crate has every reason to do with the food that's on our tables. that's next.

here's our new trainer ensure active heart health. i maximize good stuff, like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. new ensure active heart health supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. ensure, take life in.

we're for an opens you internet for all.sing. we're for creating more innovation and competition.

we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some news you may find even more surprising. we're comcast. the only isp legally bound by full net neutrality rules. for every ten green house tomatoes that come into the u.s. comes from mexico. how exactly do those fresh tomatoes or eggplants or peppers go from the fields of mexico to american produce aisles and ultimately your plate? a new los angeles times investigative series sheds some light on the process. december 7 the times released the first of four stories, the detailed war commissions of

hundreds of farm ralaborers who harvest the food that we consume. don and richard spent nine months ---they found that despite labor laws in mexico, camp bosses at many of the labor camps in question with held pay from workers until their contracts, typically tree months ended. during those three months, the workers some younger than 14 years old reside in windowless rooms with pest infestations. no beds and sometimes no running water. moros i-reports that in some camps, workers are not permitted to leave before their contracts expire. despite the rules and standards, american grocery chains have established for labor practices, some countries have purchased

produce from mexican suppliers that get their products from these farms. these conditions have led some farm workers in the region to ask this key question. joining me now from san diego is los angeles times report richard morssi. richard, tell me what we need to know about the labor conditions that produce our produce? >> well, first thing that we have to emphasize is that most americans don't realize how much of our produce comes from mexico. more than 50% of the produce that we eat now comes from mexico. and they're produced at these megafarms that produce tens of millions of pounds of tom matat.

so they pick these poorest people on the continent from these poor mountain villages and move them hundreds of miles and house them in these labor camps in the middle of these big farms. there's thousands of folks. they're seasonal workers and they spend much of their time picking and at night they goo back to these squalid labor camps where they spend much of their time. >> we saw an image earlier of a baby lying a crate. what does this have to do with this story? >> the folks who were in that picture were picking for a chile pepper farm down in south. the housing there is really, really poor quality. and that wasn't exactly a labor plant there, that was a chile pepper planting. but these folks were living in very trying circumstances with not much and not much attention given to them. >> one of the things that was

most stunning to me as i was reading these pieces is that some of the laborers who are picking, particularly the chile peppers are adolescent kids, 10, 11, 12 years old. >> yeah, i found that largely in the chile pepper a harvest and there's a huge demand here in the united states for chile peppers, it's a small plant about three feet high and about three-inch long chile peppers, so it's perfect for cultivation for children. so if you go to chile pepper plants, you see a lot of children working with their families. they have a nomadic existence, they travel from farm to farm year round following the chile pepper trail. and we followed the travels of a 12-year-old girl, alajandrina as he traveled with her family.

>> how are consumers and american businesses implicated and complicit in these conditions? >> well, there's largely a lack of public awareness of labor conditions of farm workers in mexico. so when i went down there, i was kind of shocked at the conditions, i went to these labor cants and found that these folks have contracts that hold their pay so that effectively traps them around the labor camps and also they fall in debt with this overriced company stores, so the ongoing debt keeps them trapped and tethered to the farm and keeps them there during the season. corporate companies, which are the biggest in the u.s., walmart, albertsons, restaurant chains, they source much of their produce down there and they have vendor codes of conduct, social responsibility guidelines that when i was down

there, i didn't see much enforcement of these guidelines. >> i will say walmart did send us a statement saying we have a focus on positively impacting our global supply chain, we care about the men and women who work in it. we know the agriculture industry is important in mexico, and we continue to work with those suppliers where our standards are upheld. if am a consumer, and that's mostly what i am. how in 15 seconds can i be an ethical consumer. >> at this point, there aren't any -- consumer groups have made an impact in the apparel and garment industries forcing companies to act to enforce their eguidelines. and there are certification bodies in mexico that are apparently pushing these now and trying these ---i trying to get these companies to sign on to ensure that all of these codes

of conduct are being enforced. >> our viewers can learn much more about this story by going on to "l.a. times".com. the story up now is called children harvest crops and sacrifice dreams in mexico's fields. still to come this morning, what the panama canal has to do with asthma in newark, new jersey and bill cosby finally speaks about the allegations leveled against him. there's more on the hp show at the top of the hour. we have the technology. and we have the team. we made over 15 billion successful deliveries last year. 15 billion! football has a season. baseball has a season. this is our season. which means it's timeson for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event.

for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. look, i love the way he controls abthe lightsbutler. and unlocks the door when i forget my keys... it's just that... i feel like he's always watching us. yes, that is why we should use wink. ...look, it can monitor and manage our house but it won't start to develop human emotions.

hey buddy. control your entire home with one simple app introducing wink it's like a robot butler, but not as awkward. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable, with over 900 locations for walk-in medical care. and more on the way. minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. dentures with toothpaste or plain water. and even though their dentures look clean,

in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture everyday. welcome back. i'm melissa harris-perry. this week there have been new developments in two explosive ongoing stories that have brought renewed attention to the yurve of sexual assault. after a "washington post" report last week pointed out discrepancies in a rolling stone article about an alleged gang rape at the university of virginia, the voracity of rolling stone's report continued to unravel, as the post dug deeper into the facts of the

story. in the story published on wednesday, the post spoke with three students who were identified with pseudonyms in the article. both the rolling stone story and the post reporting are in accord that the three students were the first people who arrived after jackie called to tell them something had happened to her at a uva fraternity, but the account given to the post by students diverges at that point from what rolling stone originally reported. the students say they were never contacted or interviewed by rolling stone for the story, although two of them told a "washington post" reporter that the magazine had reached out to them this week after they had already told their story to the post. the friends say jackie give a different account of the assault than she told rolling stones.

the details of is story differ from what she told rolling stone. they told the post that they fried to locate the student that jackie named as her attacker on a uva database or on social media. and uva officials had no record as the name is students gave -- thursday those three friends revealed their true identities when they sat down for an interview with abc news and recounted recollections of what happened that differed in the story reported by rolling stone. as new facts continue to bring clarity to the inaccurate reporting in the original uva article, the media have maintained a steady if belated pursuit of the swirling sexual assault allegations against bill cosby. and this week the list or more than 20 women with similar accusations against cosby has grown by one very high profile name, because the latest accusation comes from another iconic african-american celebrity.

this week ground breaking model beverly johnson told the story of her experience with cosby to "vanity fair." in the 1970s and 80s, johnson was at the height of her career as one of the first african-american supermodels, she made history in 1984 when she became the first african-american model to grace the cover of vogue magazine. by the mid 1980s johnson was looking into acts and says cosby asked her to come by his house for an interview for the cosby shoe. johnson recounts what she says happened when she went to cosby's house and he offered her a drink. >> i took a sip of the cappuccino and i immediately felt really strange. i started to realize that the room started to spin a little and i was getting very woozy, i

took another sip. then i knew that he had drugged me and he was going to take advantage of me and i just went to survival mode. i just went to a tirade. >> we should note, bill cosby has denied these types of claims in the past and has not been charged with a crime related to any of the allegations against him. neither he nor his attorneys have come out specifically on johnson's story. but speaking to a reporter for the "new york post" on friday, cosby is quoted as having said, let me say this, i only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism. when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind. turning back the details of beverly johnson's story, she said after she yelled at cosby, he pulled her out of his house and into a taxi. johnson is not claiming a sexual

assault occurred, but she wrote in "vanity fair" that she -- after trying to congress front cosby on the phone but never tried again for reasons that she shareded on the "today" show. >> i had just gotten out of a marriage with a very powerful man. so i know what it's like to go up against a powerful man. i had first hand experience. and it's not nice. and it's not easy and it's very expensive. and i realized at that moment that i was no match for bill cosby. >> johnson said that her decision to finally come forward with weighted with worries about the vulnerabilities of african-american men. >> it was very difficult because this was a black man and in today's climate, of black males in america, some being executed, it was very difficult for me to

say at this particular moment why at this particular moment? because that conversation of race, we needed so badly. and i didn't want to bring this subject at this particular time. >> what johnson is suggesting there, the challenges of telling the truth about a difficult issue like sexual assault or attempted assault was the subject of an article for the nation this week by associate of pennsylvania discussing why it's hard to write about rape, she says, the complexities and pitfalls about reporting about rape are why many journalists choose to avoid the subject all together. this of course is a problem in it's own rite. in the case of comedian bill cosby, it had the ultimate effect of silencing victims and allowed a rapist to assault scores of women with impunity for decades.

and of course, again, i have to say, mr. cosby hasn't actually been proven in a court of law to be a rapist. and yet, this is part of what you are grappling with this in article is how do we talk about sexual assault following the ethics, the rules of reporting and of law while also maintain a certain positionity relative to survivors. >> it was actually a very challenging piece for me to write and i want to thank the editors at the nation for pushing me to kind of think why it's so hard for a journalist, and i'm not a journalist in that sense, i'm an advocate of sexual assault survivors and i'm a survivor myself so i come to it with a different set of parameters and questions. but i do follow these cases these high profile cases in the media pretty consistently. so it's interesting that cosby's own statement is turning to this language of neutrality, and particularly the black media,

but for journalists to maintain neutrality which is the kind of standard of ethical journalism, that means that you aren't supposed to listen to the survivor or the victim's voices, you're supposed to say that maybe they're both equal and that people who are alleged perpetrators, we should maintain that stance, we don't know what happened, it's he said/she said, so what's really interesting, as an american and someone who's grown up in this culture, we're biassed against people of sexual assault so it's on the journalist's part to actually interrogate that before they approach articles on sexual violence. we immediately blame the victim for the crime that's committed against her or him when it comes to sexual assault. and so there is no sense of neutrality, quite frankly. >> this question of september skepticism, it's key to the work

we do in the wofrltd of academics, it's key to what we do in the world of reporting. you and i both as survivors and activists around the question of sexual assault know that that kind of skepticism can be not only painful for a survivor, but deeply problematic for the whole process of undoing and deconstructing rape culture. for me, as i read parts of rolling stone's reporting and i had like a little antenna that went up and i took that antenna back down, i was like nope, that's just me giving in. so i have been -- where does your position stand versus your activist position. >> it's the question of skepticism, there's that skepticism that journalists are always supposed to have when it comes to covering a story. and we have a socialized stostory

of blaming survivors. so there's an attempt to restore the integrity of journalists without necessarily protecting the rights of victims. so i just think it's, you know, i have been having this conversation, is skepticism the right word, is bias the right word? so when you have the collision of these two cultures coming together, inevitably, the victim of a sexual crime is going to be the one who actually suffers the most. so that's one thing. and then the other thing i think is very important, i mean, i don't think -- because ial follow these cases, in 2011, the "new york times" did an article about an 11-year-old girl who was gang raped in texas. the way to the reporter covered the story originally is that she was too adult like, she was wearing too much makeup. there was a push back with a petition so the editor issued an

apology in response. and following how it did impact how they covered -- dominique strausz calmed the situation, it was better coverage there, but it was then considered when the asylum stuff came out, people thought maybe they didn't do their due process and knowing all the facts about her. so there's these really important high profile cases where there's a sense that either the reporters are biassed or they're not getting all the information. but it really impacts what kind of conversation we have around sexual assault reform and it ends up affecting the victims in ak kw that cosby's talking about now.

ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself sweet charmin!!!softness... take a closer look at charmin ultra soft and you'll love what you see. not only can you use less, but you can actually see the softness in our comfort cushions. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft? the pain felt like my feet were on fire.e pain. i had these very burning, needle-like sensations. i knew i needed to see a doctor. my doctor said, "let's try lyrica." lyrica has helped relieve my pain. it's known that diabetes damages nerves

lyrica is fda-approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a great feeling. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

this is bigger than bill cosby. this is about, you know, women and violence on women. this is about women finding their voice. you know, to feel that it's okay to come out and tell someone, a loved one, the police, anyone, what has happened to them. and that they won't be vilified and that they won't be questioned or attacked for telling the truth. >> that was iconic supermodel beverly johnson speaking this week to tamron hall for the "today" show about her allegation that she was drugged by bill cosby nearly 30 years ago. joining my table is byron hurt who's an anti-sexism activist and alexandra broadsky of know your mind.

we have talked about the difficulty of reporting on, thinking about the issue of skepticism in journalism. what if i were a title 9 enforcement officer on a college campus, you have gotten a report, you have heard a story, what are the challenges that you are balancing in that moment? >> i think the good news is that a school's response mechanism can never be just one person. so there are people in different roles and i think it's absolutely essential that when a survivor comes forward, that there is someone who says i'm on your team, i believe you, i'm sticking with you the whole way. but that doesn't mean that we don't need somewhat neutral adjudicators, i say somewhat because i think there's a political commitment behind a sentence like i believe survi r survivors which doesn't necessarily mean i can't look at facts before me and i can't make decisions, but just that i me this is not a coveted status, i

know that the false reports is pretty low. but i think it's also important in that moment that it's not a few students rights versus victims rights in this the zero sum game. because everyone, victims especially need these adjudications to be perceived by the public, to be respected. >> what's going on in the rolling stone piece, to the extent that this is bad journalism, it does nothing good for jackie or any other survivor, right? >> i think it's such a is shame that we are asking these women who come forward to take on this tremendous burden of being this movement. it was angie and emma and then it was jackie. and i'm so glad that they're telling their stories, but we have to work on that, too. we can't depend on them to have this national changing policy. >> a journalist for the "new

york times" wrote about, what if every kid on a college campus was given new language, a phrase whose meaning would not be mistaken that signaled peril for both sides that might be more easily uttered, one phrase that might work is red zone, as in hey, we're in the red zone, or this is starting to feel too red zone. she's suggesting that no is sometimes hard to say, so maybe we need red zone language and i guess my main thought as i read it was, oh, look so now we have to wear nail polish so we can make sure we're not being drugged and we're responsible for determining when we're going to the red zone. i mean with the work that you're doing with men on campus, how do we shift that burden away from simply relying on boys and women? >> how about teaching boys and men that we shouldn't rape girls and women. that's what the message should b and i come from a very unique position of being a founding member of a mentoring program

that really tries to educate and inform and shift the culture of masculinity so that we begin to really confront rape culture, i think -- i haven't read the article, but it sounds to me that this is just another thing that places the responsibility and the onus on women for protecting herself instead of teaching boys and men that rape is a crime, rape is a serious issue, to really pay attention to the physical cues that bgirl and women are giving you. >> when you talk about physical cues, this is part of what doesn't happen in the public conversation about it. that is desire, what is sexy, what we think is normal interactions of human sexuality is built in our social system,

what we think looks like consent, and what we think looks sexy or desirable. part of my concern is that we have actually generated a culture that says that resistance is somehow a yes, that, like--that the thing that you should expect in the context of an engagement between a man and a woman's sexuality is that she's got to resist, because that's her responsibility and your job is to overcome that resistance and i guess i'm literally interested, can we rewrite what we think sexy is? can we make consent and repeated yeses at various stages the thing that we expect to happen in an engagement and that feels hard to me. >> that's why the adopting the yes means yes is important. it's a contemplation that universities actually enforce that and that becomes part of

campus culture. but what's also interesting and it's not exactly answering your question, but in terms of the bill cosby allegation and this idea of the women being semiconscious or unconscious, so even in a moment where resistance may be seen as sexy, only to kind of further violence against women, you also have these people who are believing that bill cosby may not have done this, precisely because the woman couldn't resist. why would someone render a woman unconscious to do this. resistance and consent are all such tricky things, but i think in order to get to the heart of these issues, we have got to have clear definitions, not just clear definitions of consent and a way of enforcing them when they're violating and that's the challenge that we're all facing. >> there's so much more to talk about around the uva case and particularly around this issue of title ix, and if campuses are

doing it right no matter what's going on with the rolling stone reporting. up next, another day, another slew of protests, this is a movement with no signs of slowing down. ther curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra.

and we're new to the pacific northwest. the rain, the mud -- babam! it's there. the outside comes in. it's kinda nasty so you start the towel-mop shuffle. where are you sun?! [ doorbell rings ] oh, wow, it's a swiffer wetjet. this puts my towel mopping to shame. whoa! ewww. sunshine is overrated, now we can get messy. [ laughs ] now we can get messy. go! go! wow! go power...oats! go! made from oats cheerios! cheerios! go, go, go! go power oats! go! cheerios!

go power! go...power! yayyyy! because i make the best chicken noodle soup. because i make the best chicken noodle soup. because i make the best chicken noodle soup. for every way you make chicken noodle soup, make it delicious with swanson®. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? aleve, proven better on pain. if every driver in the u.s. kept here's a qtheir car's you: tires properly inflated, how many gallons of fuel could america save each year? up to 2 billion gallons? 4 billion? 6 billion? the answer is... up to 4 billion gallons. by keeping your tires properly inflated, you can increase your car's fuel economy

and reduce its co2 emissions. take the energy quiz -- round 2. energy lives here. yesterday the american people took to the streets. in st. louis, missouri, 25,000 strong. in new york city, in boston, in los angeles. in washington, d.c., 10,000 protesters not only marched on behalf of those black men and boys who lost their lives to police, they heard directly from their family. michael brown sr. whose son was killed in ferguson, missouri. >> our respect -- man, you all kept this alive for all the families. we love you all. we really do. >> gwen car died after police

placed her son in a chokehold in new york city. >> it's just so overwhelming to see all of you who have come to stand with us today. i mean look at the masses. black, white, all races all religions, this is just a great moment, this is a history making moment. >> that's sumaria rice whose son was shot by police on a cleveland playground in an action that has now been ruled a homicide. >> my child was just 12 years old. just a baby, my baby, the youngest out of four. he is here with me right now telling me what he wants me to do. >> these lives matter in profoundly personal ways in the families who lost them and these parents have been transformed from grieving individuals into national activists and we were all reminded by sabrina fulton,

the mother of slain teen trayvon martin requires that we build sold dare with those who otherwise might choose to look away. >> don't preach to the choir, because they get it, they understand. i don't have to tell one of these mothers up here what they're going through, because they know. i don't have to tell not one single african-american about racial profiling, because you guys know. so what i challenge you to do is talk to somebody that does not know. >> joining me now from washington to talk about how we transform the personal into the political is barbara arnwine, president and director of -- what did you learn yesterday that was surprising or unexpected? >> i was just really overwhelmed by all the families who came with their children, all the

intergenerational presence and how much people just wanted to be there, how desperately they wanted america to know that this has to stop now, that they -- we all must put our hands up and say don't shoot, this is about no justice, no peace, that people were there to say that for future generations, we don't want to see this ever again. where black lives are at such stake. >> there was a moment when you talked about people desperately wanting to be there. >> yes. >> there was a moment when some of the ferguson protesters, young people, not part of what we think of the established civil rights movement, took a moment and took the stage, i want to just pause for a second and listen to that moment. >> this is what i need you all to understand. this is what -- this is ---we are not disrespectful, we -- to have people in my ear saying be with respectful like i'm not, is condesce

condescending, we have been out're in washington and d.c. and new york, and we started this uprising, so we want to tell the people of ferguson that have been out there for 100-something days to let them speak. >> barbara, what was going on in that moment? >> if i was planning the march, they would have all been on the program. you cannot have a modern day movement where you do not have the young leadership built into every stage of that movement. the planning, the execution, the decision making, they must be the leaders that they are. you got to take advantage of that incredible gift, i consider this a moment of enrichment that we have all been gifted by these really talented, amazing leaders, rika, teda, ashley yates, charlene carruthers, all these amazing new leaders. i just think that we got to embrace them and put them right in the front and let them do

what they do so well. innovate and lead. >> it's an ongoing challenge within social movements, maybe particularly within civil rights movements around racial equality, but this, you know, both people with long sustaining understanding and tradition within a movement and then new folks who are saying we have new tactics and by the way, we are largely responsible for this, as we are hearing from ferguson protesters, it is us who put this on the agenda at this moment. how do we start to reconcile those kinds of intergenerational challenges. >> we need to bring people together and we need to give people their proper respect and their proper leadership roles. and we had a meeting this last thursday where three of the young leaders did come and meet with the ferguson coalition that's put out the unified statement with the 14 key recommendations that is at the lawyer's committee's website, if anybody wants to see it.

but what was good about that meeting was that they were able to tell us what was on their minds, share with us what they want to learn, share with us what they have learned, share with us their tactical, you know, ideals, all of that was fabulous and i think that if we do more of that, we get it right. we get it wrong when we separate and we think that we can make decisions for others. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning, barbara, it has been one of the interesting parts for me is realizing that i am no longer part of the young leadership, i am now officially talking about the young people. up next, the panama canal has been open for 100 years. but the renovation under way now is stoking growing fears. (vo) nourished. rescued. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event,

subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i've never seen swanything so soft!tness... charmin! take a closer look at charmin ultra soft and you'll love what you see. not only can you use less, but you can actually see the softness in our comfort cushions. plus charmin ultra soft is so much more absorbent you can use up to four times less. what are you boys looking at? my main squeeze. rotorooter approved. charmin is clog-free or it's free.

we asked people a question how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to like, pull it a little further got me to 70 years old i'm going to have to rethink this thing it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ in year marks the centennial of the opening of the panama canal, the marking of human

engineering and innovation. but it came at a great cost. more than 25,000 workers died building the panama canal, falling victim to malaria and brutal working conditions while trying to transform the geography and the topography -- double it's capacity. and while workers are no longer subjected to the ravages of early 20th century disease, that does not mean there is no risk to human health. there is, and in places so far away as newark, new jersey. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards, even cash back.

and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. don't settle for 4g lte coverage that's smaller or less reliable when only one network is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network: verizon. with xlte, our 4g lte bandwidth has doubled in over 400 cities. and now, save without settling. get 2 lines with 10gb of data for just $110... ...or 4 lines for just $140. and get a $150 bill credit for each smartphone you switch. only on verizon. many americans who have prescriptions fail to stay on them. that's why we created programs which encourage people to take their medications regularly. so join us as we raise a glass to everyone who remembered today. bottoms up, america.

see you tomorrow. same time. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. the start of sneeze season.. and the wind-blown watery eyes. that's why puffs plus lotion

is gentle on sensitive skin. so you can always put your best face forward. a face in need deserves puffs indeed. and try puffs softpack today. you don't need to think about the energy that makes our lives possible. because we do. we're exxonmobil and powering the world responsibly is our job. because boiling an egg... isn't as simple as just boiling an egg. life takes energy. energy lives here. the panama canal is in the midst of an eight-year, $5 billion renovation, the largest project at the canal since it's original construction which was one of the great engineering

fetes of the 20th century. it created a much-needed shortcut allowing ships to avoid the long journey around the tip of south america. for ships going from new york city to california, it cut nearly 6,000 miles from it's voyage. the french were the first to try it in 1880, but after nine years and the loss of nearly 20,000 lives, the french had little to show for their efforts. when american president teddy roosevelt came to office in 1901, he saw the building and the controlling of the canal as key to establish america's dominance over the global stage. over the next decade, tens of thousands of workers most of them from the west indys toiled in the dangerous conditions, from outbreaks of dangerous weather, malaria and dangerous snakes. more people lost their lives in

the american led years of the project. when the first ship passed through in 1914, it became the center of global trade, by 2005 nearly 10% of all cargo to the u.s. passed through the canal. and now there are plans to expand the canal to double it's capacity, to allow passage for ships that carry three times the cargo they carry now. port citys around the country are racing to make sure they don't miss the boat, literally. according to the army corps of engineers--in opens of creating more jobs and profits. just like 100 years ago, construction on the panama canal could once again come another a human cost. community activists are sounding the alarm about what they see as a threat to the health of the people living near the ports. msnbc national reporter went to

new jersey to see just what was at stake. >> this is the ban bridge in northeastern new jersey, it connects the region to staten island, new york, and hovers over the shipping traffic that makes newark, new jersey port one of the businessiest ports in the world. the bridge -- in order to accommodate the larger ships because of the expansion of the panama canal, there are now plans to raise the bridge to 250 feat and that is racing some concerns. bigger ships means more cargo and when that cargo is offloaded it moves out from the port on primarily diesel fueled trucks. >> these are some of the dirtiest trucks and because they are spewing lethal pollution, it's getting into the lungs of our residents.

she workses for the environmental group clean water action. >> because the port of new york and new jersey is the largest port in the east coast, we -- i can see the trucks doubling. and if they are not the newer, cleaner fleet of trucks, it is definitely going to be more health problems for residents in the city of newark. >> in newark, the asthma related death and hospitalization rate is already twice that of the surrounding suburbs. >> we think we have a compelling case that the port authority and the coast guard didn't do an adequate job in studying the environmental impacts. >> aaron klinebaum is the director of the eastern environmental law center and one of the attorneys involved in a lawsuit against the port authority and the u.s. coast guard over the project. >> my clients in newark are concerned because of the air quality impacts of bringing huge, increased amounts of cargoes under the bridge into the newark port and taking that

cargo by diesel truck through that you are communities, past their homes, past their schools and emitting significant amounts of diesel emissions and their kids are going to suffer health impacts, health effects from those trucks. >> reporter: it's not just kids, long time newark resident bobby james says the truck have already taken a toll on her health? how have the trucks affected your health in your opinion. >> any my opinion, the fumes that comes from the trucks cause me to have asthma attacks, cause me to have a breathing problem. >> reporter: nancy mince says it has made it hard for her two young sons to do what they do, play outdoors. >> my youngest son has asthma and my older son was treated. he has it severely and he's not able to be outside because of the constant pollution that's

coming in our area. >> reporter: the environmental protection agency has not drawn a direct link from the trucks to cases of asthma in newark, but the epa does indicate that there's mounting evidence showing diesel exhaust can exacerbatal allergies and symptoms. how does it benefit residents in new jersey and the surrounding area? >> first, the ports, the port authority in new york and new jersey account for about 200,000 jobs. this is about preserving jobs, it's about growing and maintaining the competitiveness of the busiest port on the east coast. and it's also about protecting and enhancing our environment. >> reporter: violental groups and activists and residents are sounding their alarms saying the project will result in significant air pollution. >> i think the advocates are wrong. i think there will be fewer container ships coming, they'll be carrying more containers per

ship. >> but the concern is less about the ships coming into port and more about the increased number of trucks transporting the cargo that the ships bring. >> it would be better if we don't have to breathe everything that's coming from these trucks. there's a lot of things that are causing us to be sick. >> joining me now, one of the activists you heard from in that story, kim gabby of clean water action. do you feel like city and state officials are being honest about what the likely impact is of raising the bridge and therefore having more truck traffic? >> yeah, i mean i think the port authority of newark, new jersey is disingenuous because they had the coast guard do an environmental assessment and they said it would be little

jobs, fewer environment to the problems, so you're spending $1.3 billion and you're only seeing an increase of 54 trucks? which one is it because you read all the articles in the newspaper, oh, there's going to be an increase in jobs, increase in ships, increase in cargo. so right now 10,000 trucks come through our port and our neighborhood every day, the third largest port in the nation, when they raise the bridge, i can see that count going up to 14,000 to 20,000. so the story isn't being told correctly. >> we do have a statement from the port authority where they say through the aggressive imp men indication of our clean air strategy and clean rail, insent tifr program the port authority has dramatically reduced particulate matter by more than 40% despite an increase in cargo. so they're claiming, there are going to be more trucks, but

they're going to be clean trouks this time. what do you think of that? >> that is also fraudulent, right now we have trucks that are pre-2007. if the port authority of new york and new jersey would ban those trucks and only allow 2007 -- 2007 200 2007-trucks and newer, we would reduce the pollution by 90%. >> if i'm a state official and i see that panama canal opening up, i'm going to say, listen, we got to go get a piece of that economic pie. but you're telling me there's a way to get a piece of that economic pie and protect the capacity of young people in that community to breathe clean air? >> this is all we're asking for, but the port authority refuses. they can't afford the new trucks. this should be expense that the port authority of new york and

new jersey owns up to as well as the trucking company. then it will reduce the asthma and lung cancer, we live in a literal death zone in the city of newark, it's killing us, they are paying the brunt of the whole reason as that -- it's not fair, not for my kids or any of the kids in residence in the city of newark. >> newark as you point out is win of the largest, you look at that flow, you goup the eastern seaboard, are there other seaboard cities, particularly in the gulf coast or others along the eastern seaboard that are facing the same challenges, i'm wondering if there's a coalition work to be done. >> i'm actually part of a moving forward network, that is a national association from port communities and i am the new jersey and the new jersey representative. we fight very hard to educate our communities, but unfortunately, because of the color of our skin, and when you live to close to the port

communities, we receive all of the environmental harm. but we're working hard each and every day, and that's why it infuriates us that you have easy solutions that can be implemented today. california implemented some of it. they have the newer trucks. >> as we were reviewing and getting ready for this i was thinking about the fact that right now one of the rallying cries is i can't breathe, of course, about the fact that eric garner, the final words that he was saying, but this is another form of being unable to breathe because of an injustice, thank you so much for your continued work and activism and giving us a chance to take a look at some of what you've been up to. up next, it has been a tough year, there is good news and such the is the case for 2014, stick around through the break and i'll show you what i mean.

♪(the music builds to a climax.) more people are coming to audi than ever before. see why now is the best time. audi will cover your first month's payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. visit audioffers.com today. a dry mouth can be a common side effect. that's why there's biotene. it comes in oral rinse, spray or gel, so there's moisturizing relief for everyone. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. and i quit smoking with chantix. people who know me, they say 'i never thought you would quit.' but chantix helped me do it. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke.

some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. don' take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i'm a non-smoker, that feels amazing. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

2014 is almost over. and in many ways it's been a

tough year. as you hear us say, the struggle continues. but to survive the struggle, we have to take a little time to celebrate the victories. the hards fought gains. the steps toward progress, and the good moments along the way. so 2014 expanded marriage equality to more than 2/3 of the country. same-sex couples gain the right to get married in west virginia, pennsylvania, north carolina, kansas, and a dozen more states. the u.s. sentencing commission voted to retroactively reduce sentencing guidelines for federal drug trafficking offenses. a change impacting more than 46,000 people. millions of americans who otherwise would not have had it signed up for health insurance thanks to the affordable care act. president obama took executive action that could allow up to 5 million people living here in this country to remain with their families. without the fear of deportation. states reformed the drug laws to

reduce the penalty for marijuana possession. as of this year, more than 1/3 of states have decriminalized marijuana possession. but the good news we celebrated this year was more than just policy advances, 13-year-old davis made us all cheer when she was the first girl to pitch a shutout in a little league world series game. making history and becoming the 2014 sports illustrated sports kid of the year. mulala, activism, for girls education around the globe was recognized with the 2014 nobel prize for peace. janet mox beautiful memoir, became a "new york times" best seller. and north carolina representative alma adams sworn into office, becoming the 100th woman in the current u.s. congress. the most there have ever been. ever talented chanda rimes

extended to must-see tv. and queen b gave us all a moment of levity during a fraught month of november with her surprise release of the video for her new track "7/11," foot phone and all. it's hard to reconcile the enormity of tragedy and injustice facing our nation. we're grappling with the killing of unarmed children, with disappearing reproductive rights for women, with too many americans living in poverty or without a living wage. but as we struggle each year to work towards our vision of a better and more perfected nation, we also have to remember the good news. we've got to celebrate the victories, even though the struggle continues, there is in that struggle some awfully good moments. movements. sometimes when and sometimes there's a foot known and a beyonce video. i want to wish you all holiday

cheer. thank you for watching the show this year. next weekend, 10:00 a.m. eastern be there or be square. that's all for our show today. yes, that's it! but now it's time for a preview of "weekends with alex witt." >> seriously a poet and you didn't know it. i had to go there. thank you for that. hey, everyone, on a serious note. two years after the newtown school shooting, you'll be surprised at how little has changed with respect to guns in america. that $1.1 trillion funding bill that congress passed. why did it pass if people from both sides really disliked big parts of it. the latest will likely be number one at the box office, but doesn't come without big controversy. the people who hacked into sony computers are promising more to come. in fact, they're saying it's going to be worse than we've seen already. don't go anywhere, i'll be right back. purchases. that's a win. but imagine earning it twice. introducing the citi® double cash card. it lets you earn cash back twice, once when you buy and again as you pay.

it's cash back. then cash back again. and that's a cash back win-win . the citi double cash card. the only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1% when you buy and 1% as you pay. with two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem one-sided. motor trend's 2015olf car of the year. so was the 100% electric e-golf, and the 45 highway mpg tdi clean diesel. and last but not least, the high performance gti. looks like we're gonna need a bigger podium. the volkswagen golf family. motor trend's 2015 "cars" of the year. it's more than the car.er. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365,

the team can gain real time insights and instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. this is the microsoft cloud. right now, you can get a single line with 3 gigs for $65 a month. 3 gigs ... is that a lot? that's about...100 app downloads, 45 hours of streaming music, and 6 hours of video playing. (singing) and five golden rings! ha, i see what you did... (singing) four calling birds...three french hens... (the guys starts to fizzle out) two... turtle... doves... i really went for it there ya you did... you really, really did now get 3 gigs of data on one line for $65 a month. switch to at&t, buy a new smartphone and get $150 credit per line. because it helps me skip the bad stuff. i'm good. that's what i like to call, the meta effect. 4-in-1 multi-health metamucil now clinically proven to help you feel less hungry between meals.

experience the meta effect with our new multi-health wellness line. i love my meta health bars. because when nutritious tastes this delicious, i don't miss the other stuff. new meta health bars help promote heart health. experience the meta effect with our new multi-health wellness line. ♪ as you walk away,ar. crunch! a garbage truck backs into it. so,you call your insurance company, looking for a little support. what you get is a game of a thousand questions. was it raining? were your flashers on? was there a dog with you? by the time you hang up you're convinced the accident was your fault. then you remember; you weren't even in the car. at liberty mutual we make filing a claim as stress-free as possible. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance a 1.1 trillion deal. what exactly is in it.

and does it mean you'll pay for a big bank bailout again? >> we've avoided another mass casualty attack against the united states. we did capture an awful lot of senior guys at al qaeda responsible for the attack on 9/11. >> a bitter battle today over the cia torture report. some of the most ardent defenders of the program face tough questions today. sudden and dramatic, the drop in oil prices, there's at least one answer for it, but there are many more questions. who's behind it? and could it damage the u.s. economy? the plot thickens. just when you thought it couldn't get any worse over the sony studio over the hacked e-mails, it does get worse. new details ahead. hey there, everyone, it's high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west, welcome to weekends with alex witt. late last night, the senate passed a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill