tv The Reid Report MSNBC December 22, 2014 11:00am-12:01pm PST
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farrow daily ". "the reid report" is next. welcome to "the reid report" this monday. i'm richard liu in for joy reid. we start with developing news this hour involving the case of two new york city police officers murdered over the weekend. last hour new york city mayor bill de blasio spoke to the police. >> we have to understand the attack on them was an attack on all of us. it was an attack on our democracy. it was an attack on our values. it was an attack on every single new yorker. and we have to see it as such. >> well, the mayor also has a news conference at 3:30 p.m. eastern with police commissioner bill bratton. the mayor spent part of the day visiting families of the fallen officers. community leaders also held a memorial and prayer service in honor of officers liu and ramos. business city police departments are on high alert following the
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shooting on saturday. investigators are still looking into the motive of the gunman, 20-year-old ismaaiyl space brinsley. saturday of the police benevolent association put part of the blame on the mayor but this morning governor cuomo urged restraint. >> what is healthy right now is to bring that kind of accusation down. and let's calm it down. deep breath. period of reflection. honor the holy period we're in, honor the families that are grieving. and then let's have a sober conversation once we're in a position to do that. >> msnbc adam reese joins us from brooklyn, new york. adam, you were listening to what the mayor was saying just moments ago. of course, there's that simmering in the background, which i just mentioned. how did he do?
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>> reporter: we'll have to see how the reaction is both from the community and from police. i should show you the memorial next to me, richard, is growing by the minutes. dozens and dozens of police officers coming from all over the city to express their grief and console each other. a lot of tears. a lot of emotion. want to talk to you about the hours leading up to the shooting. he was arrested 19 times in georgia and ohio. he served two years in jail on weapons charges. his mother has told police that he had tried to commit suicide this year. we can also tell you we've learned just minutes before this shooting, when he arrived on the scene, brinsley was speaking with two men who told police he said three things. he asked them to follow him on instagram. he asked them what gang they were associated with. then he said, look at what i'm going to do now. richard? >> what have we learned in the last 24 hours is the big
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question of two hours and 40 minutes that were unaccounted for leading up to the killings. >> reporter: we haven't learned any more details, but we do know that there is that gap. after brinsley allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend outside baltimore, he got on a bus and made his way to new york. he ended up at the port authority and then he took a train, a subway, to brooklyn, to barkley center, where he dropped off the phone he had stolen from his ex-girlfriend. and then eventually made his way to this neighborhood in bedford stuyvesant. >> we were mentioning the police departments across the country keeping an eye on what's happening here in new york. president obama also promising his administration is keeping a close eye on the developments in new york city. the president made those remarks and calls to nypd commissioner bill bratton and philadelphia police commissioner charles ramsey, the co-chairman of his task force on 21st century
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policing, all of this comes as msnbc has learned from a source close to police unions the obama administration, new york governor cuomo and mayor de blasio have agreed with the police unions not to politicize the situation. nbc's kristin welker is live in hawaii for us with the president. what steps are the administration taking right now? >> reporter: well, richard, senior administration officials are in contact with officials in new york as they continue to monitor the situation there. as you pointed out, president obama did reach out to commissioner ramsey on sunday, offering his condolences and also offering the full support of the federal government. in terms of the criticism that mayor de blasio has gotten, president obama has gotten from some on the right who argue they only escalated tensions with some of their rhetoric, the administration points out the president has consistently called for a peaceful response to the eric garner and michael
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brown cases. president obama has gotten calls to do more to react more aggressively before this weekend's tragic events. white house officials tell me the president wants to give that task force that has been headed by commissioner ramsey a chance. it is a 90-day task force and charged with trying to find solutions to this problem. trying to improve relations between local communities and their police departments. of course, president obama has also called for more funding for body cameras for police departments all across the country. so, the administration wants to give those options a chance before they take any further action. again, they continue to monitor this situation quite closely. phone calls continue to take place and president obama will get briefed while he proceeds with his vacation here in hawaii. >> nbc white house correspondent kristin welker with the president in hawaii. thank you so much for that. the shooting has sparked new questions about the relationship between police and the public. as well as the relationship between new york city mayor bill
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de blasio and his police forcement. mark claxton and security analyst evy tell us what's next for new york city. president obama is leaving open the possibility here of returning north korea to the state department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. during an interview with cnn sunday, the president also said the hack was not an act of war but was an act of viber vandalism. separately on "meet the press," sony lawyer and famed litigator david boyes told nbc's chuck todd "the interview" may eventually find an audience. >> sony only delayed this. sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. it will be distributed. how it's going to be distributed, i don't think anybody knows quite yet but it's going to be distributed. >> msnbc's adam howard has been following that story for us. he joins us right now. adam, what's the plan going to number. >> i think sony is still trying to figure that out. what we do know is sony is going to distribute this film. it's a matter of when and how,
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not if. they are pushing back against the new york post report they are definitely going to be releasing the film for free on crackle, their streaming service. they said that's premature. it's being considered but also looking at other potential avenues for how to release the film. we know sony is under an enormous amount of pressure from -- within the hollywood industry and both sides of the political aisle to get the film out, sort of as a rebuke to the alleged hackers from north korea. >> it certainly has put hollywood, if you will, in a place they have not been many times in history. this is, they have to respond, perhaps, to north korea and the charges from the white house, which is -- on sunday as you know, they threatened counteraction against the white house and pentagon and the whole u.s. mainland. >> right. well, we're kind of all accustomed to north korea doing a fair amount of sabre rattling so it's hard to tell how seriously to take these most recent threats. they've also come out and said
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they wanted to have a joint investigation with the united states to get to the bottom of the hacking. so, it's kind of hard to tell. there's a lot of mixed messages but it seems the theme of north korea's response is we didn't have anything to do with this, but we're glad somebody did. so, we're just kind of all waiting and seeing what the next move is going to be in this chess game. >> all right. msnbc's adam howard, thank you so much for that. now a look at the holiday weather forecast. a lot of you are thinking about that right now. for a large swath of the united states you better expect rain, tlormsz and even some snow as a massive storm system is poised to strike in many areas. msnbc meteorologist dough mmeni davis is tracking the storm. >> it's not all about snow for this storm. today is the first day of winter but we're not talking winter weather at all. we have a very active radar from the middle of the country to the east coast. it's going to stay that way right through christmas eve. there's the rain starting to move up i-95 now. pushing through washington. it will move through
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philadelphia and new york by later this afternoon. here's a look at tomorrow's forecast. we're still dealing with rain up and down the east coast. but notice the temperatures. they are pretty mild. and even by christmas eve, the temperatures get more mild. we are talking thunderstorm chances, from boston all the way down through orlando. 61 degrees for the expected high on christmas eve. that doesn't feel very christ s christmasy, richard. >> i'll pick miami or l.a. >> let's go together. big question for any holiday travel you might be doing, will my flight leave on time or at all? nbc's tom costello has more from reagan nationality airport. >> reporter: good day from a rather frigid d.c. it is likely to get warmer as the week progresses but we're expecting a lot of rain, wind and that system is going to be impacting nations -- the nation's travel. let's take a look at the major impacts at airports we're
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expecting starting tomorrow, starting tuesday. as that rain starts to kick in, we're expecting weather impacts in atlanta and chicago. low clouds and fog likely to impact operations in d.c., new york and also snow in minneapolis. but christmas eve, these are the airports to watch as things get dicey with that major storm moving up the coast. so, we're expecting the major hubs to be affected. atlanta, up to charlotte, up to d.c. and new york and philly and boston and then west, chicago is going to be impacted likely, cleveland, detroit. that day, christmas eve day, i hate to tell you, could be a real dicey day. the good news is, this is rain not snow and ice. then on christmas day itself, really it should be a pretty good day for travel. it's going to be a light travel day. but out in salt lake city we're expecting snow and the same in my hometown of denver, snow there. for the most part, christmas day should be pretty smooth sailing. it is going to be a little rough this week. a little wet and a little windy, but thankfully, we're not dealing with a major snow event. richard, back to you.
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>> nbc's tom costello, thank you for that. coming up, part two of joy's exclusive interview with outgoing attorney general eric holder. holder talks about his legacy and the broader issue of race in america. and the rift between new york's mayor and the police department ripped open. what's next for the divided community and its law enforcement? my name's louis, and i quit smoking with chantix. i had tried to do it in the past. i hadn't been successful. quitting smoking this time was different because i got a prescription for chantix. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. the fact that it reduced the urge to smoke helped me
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first obligation is to respect these families in mourning. our first obligation is to stand by them in every way we can. >> that was new york city mayor bill de blasio moments ago speaking about the need to put the politics aside in the aftermath of the murder of two nypd officers. mean i will while, his own relationship with police is under scrutiny, especially over the last several weeks. it follows comments he made after the eric garner grand jury
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decision. on saturday reached a new level. some officers turned thick baeis to the mayor and police commissioner bratton as they entered the hospital where the two police officers were at. this morning with police commissioner brit ee eer bra to >> do you support those officers and the way they protested? >> i don't support that particular activity. i don't think it was appropriate in that setting. it's reflective of the angle of some of them. >> mark claxton director of black law enforcement alliance and evy is a former secret service agent who lives in new york city. mark, when you looked at those pictures we just showed, what's your reaction? >> well, you know, unfortunately, it was so much political fear that occurred in hospital, tragic time, time of death of two police officers there to even incorporate any
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aspect of politics and it was really sad and well beneath what normally occurs within the pba, the unions themselves. there is a deep void and it's a widening void between the mayor and his police department, but this is not anything unique. it happened in '92 under david dinkins here in new york. it happened when rudy giuliani was the mayor. it happened when bloomberg was the mayor. there's always been this kind of dwig divide. it happens behind the scenes, which is not only their election process but ongoing contract negotiations. but this is really a time that the city needs to deal with, you know, the loss of these two brave police officers' lives and leave the politics and all of the vial rhetoric out of it. >> remember the two officers, wenjian lieu and ramos.
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the politics was accentuated by the director for police benevolent association, patrick lynch. >> we tried to warn. it must not go on. it cannot be tolerated. that blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> so, evy, as we listen to lynch there and you see his statement, what's the relationship, from your view, of the mayor and the police department and what might lynch want here? >> you know, i -- his statement saying the blood is on the mayor's hands, that's extreme. the blood is on the hands of the individual who actually pulled the trigger. however, having said that, there's going to be a bit of contention now between the police department and the mayor. one thing, it's the sensitivity of the comment he made as far as, you know, talking about how he tells his young son to be weary of police officers, but
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the irony of that is, the mayor and his family to include his son have a protection detail of nypd. people look at that and say, we actually physically protect you. we are there to take a bullet for your son if something should happen yet you come out saying, i tell my son to be weary of police. it's going to cause a little bit of that sentiment that the city you support does not serve you. it's not just the new york city police department but it's going to spill out and it is spilling out to other police departments and even law enforcement federal agencies. >> federal agencies are included, you're saying? >> it feels a little of an attack, most likely, toward all law enforcement officers. understandably so considering what's happening. it's not just toward one police organization. it's law enforcement community as a whole. >> mark, if you were to rate this one to ten, ten being the worst, how bad of a situation would you say is it between the mayor and the police department?
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>> well, i think given the history, i think anyone who really has an understanding of the history of the police unions and mayors, going back historically, understand that in large part it's par for the course, especially when you're talking about contract negotiations or an upcoming union election. it really is par for the course. what adds to this component is what's happening across the nation. with all of the encouragement of conversation, with all of the protests going on regarding the use of race in law enforcement, et cetera, and those calls for reform. that's what's really adding the fuel to this fire itself. but let me just say this, quite frankly, i think the comments of pat lynch as far as blood on the hands of the mayor is really -- it really is intellectually dishonest. i think sometimes the truth hurts, but the mayor felt inclined to tell the truth. let me give you an example. i was a police officer for over 20 years.
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that's the conversation i had with my son. and like i said, sometimes the truth hurts and that's why there needs to be a larger conversation so people understand i didn't say maliciously to my son, but it was my obligation as a parent that he was -- police, et cetera. anti-police, you don't hire bill bratton as your police commissioner. that's an absurdity. i think the rhetoric has gotten to the point of being beyond absurd and really needs to be tamped down and respectful. we all need to be mindful about what the priorities here in life are. our priority should be preserving and protecting human life, all human life. >> what are you looking for here so they get past this point? what does the mayor need to do? what does bratton need to do? what does lynch need to do here?
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>> they all just need to do their jobs. we need to bring this down. we need to focus on what's important, stopping the violence, making sure the community's voices are heard. if you look at 2013 ucr report, uniform crime report, it actually states officers were in some form of assault 49,851 times. and in 30% of those assaults, they were actually -- incurred some type of injury. so there is that legitimacy there, that police to deal with this type of behavior, their job is somewhat difficult. you have to move on, blaming everybody, hurting everybody, this is not the way to bring peace about within our community at all. >> we'll see how the weak turns out to be. thank you so much. mark claxton as well, appreciate your time. coming up on "the cycle," live coverage of mayor de blasio saes news conference with bill bratton, 3:30 eastern. 70-year-old british singer joe cocker died after a long
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battle of lung cancer. he had a career that spanned four decades. he is known for hits "you are so beautiful" and "up where you belong" that earned him a grammy and oscar. three things to know this monday. line of immigrants applying for their first u.s. driver's license was out the door in phoenix today. those so-called dreamers are among the first of some 22,000 newly eligible to apply for driver's licenses in arizona, thanks to president obama's deferred action program. last week a federal judge ordered arizona to stop enforcing governor january brewer's two-year ban of licenses for dreermz. advocates of same-sex marriage are celebrating friday's supreme court ruling in florida. friday the high court refused to extend a stay on the ban clearing the way for same-sex unions to begin on january 6th. florida is on track to be the 36th state, plus d.c., to allow same-sex couples to we had. pope francis used his annual greeting to the catholic church's hierarchy to serve up a
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the nfl trusts duracell quantum to their game day communication. they're blitzing up the gut! get out of the pocket! hut! duracell quantum. lasts up to 35% longer than the competition. there's new information about the night baltimore ravens running back ray rice punched his then-fiancee janay palmer in an atlanta city casino. nbc's craig melvin has more. >> reporter: a newly released security footage obtained exclusively by nbc news following a court ruling you can see rice being directed away from his then-fiancee, janay palmer, then handcuffed. authorities then questioning a crying palmer and give her medical treatment. then after the punch that left palmer on an elevator floor and unable to get up, she and rice kiss in the elevator while both are handcuffed. both are led away and arrested for simple assault. the charges for palmer were
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later dropped. rice entered an intervention program and avoided a potential trial. now some are questioning the way authorities handle the janay palmer, specifically, why was a woman who was knocked unconscious when security first approached the couple handcuffed? and why would authorities allow the man being arrested for assault close enough to kiss his victim? >> if you're looking to law enforcement to provide you a service and keep you safe and then they act as they did in this particular instance, then, of course, it just further solidifies for the victim that help is not available. >> reporter: the couple married in march and janay continues to stand firmly by ray. over the weekend, they appeared together at a charity event. in an exclusive interview with matt last month, she talked about how their incident may serve to educate others. >> it's so -- there's so many messages. >> i got chosen for a reason. it was definitely to bring awareness to what people are going through every day. even though it's not what i'm going through every day, it's definitely brought, you know,
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this topic to the forefront. >> nbc's craig melvin reporting for us there. when we come back, part two of joy's exclusive sitdown with outgoing attorney general eric holder including what he calls his proudest accomplishment. [ male announcer ] are you so stuffed up, you feel like you're underwater?
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in the wake of this killing -- of these killings, former new york governor george pataki cited eric holder as partly to blame. taking to twitter saying it was part of divisive anti-cop. holder called the shootings senseless and an unspeakable act of barbarism. a week ago he sat for an interview with joy reid. in the first part he spoke about local police and african-americans. in this portion of the interview today with joy, he speaks about race on america as well as his own accomplishments in office. >> you talked about the fact you've been forthright in a lot of ways talking about race. that's true. a lot of people believe that of you. your critics on the right might say, he came out swinging. saying we're a nation of cowards on race, talking about things in a very blunt way when it came to race. so, it's not surprising the other side swung back.
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do you feel in any sense that you might have come out and polarized the debate at all when it comes to talking about race? >> no, you see, i think that people have to be prepared to deal with the truth, with the facts. and not be defensive about that. if people look at the entirety of that speech, i talk about the fact that people have to be in a position to feel safe to express opinions. the other side has to be able to hear them in a way that, you know, they're not necessarily being critical but to take it in a thoughtful way. it's a painful process to go through. this is a nation, after all, that had to deal with slavery and then legalize segregation. we still have a lot we have to get through. we're still suffering the impacts of, you know, a racial system that was inconsistent with our founding documents. so, race is still a hard, hard thing for people to talk about and to deal with. >> i think a lot of african-americans have this feeling that, you know, black president, first
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african-american president, african-american attorney general, and they look at both of your relationship, let's say, with congress and sort of the attitude toward the two of you from some members of congress on the other side. white president, white attorney general, would there have been this tough, difficult a relationship with congress? >> hard to say. you know, the attorney general seems to be of lately the person, whether you're white, black, republican, democrat, who catches a lot of grief. so, there is -- that's just a part of the position. i can't look into the hearts and minds of people who have been, perhaps, my harshest critics. i think a large part of the criticism is political in nature. whether there is a racial component or not, you know, i don't know. i've tried to, you know, work may way through that and focus on the work. what can i do as attorney general with the power i have as attorney general to make this country better and to deal with
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those racial issues i talked about in that speech back in 2009. >> i mean, but do you feel -- you've been critical in a lot of ways of the way you've been treated by congress, everything from fast and furious and all of these investigations, even threats they would like to see you impeach some members on the other side. do you feel you've been especially disrespected as attorney general? >> well, it's unfortunately, part of washington in 2014. i would hope my successor would not have to endure some of the thing is did. i say endure only because i think i've shown respect where, perhaps, i haven't been given any. i'm not necessarily -- i'm not wound that way. there are times when i've wanted to just snap back. there are occasionings when i have. but there have been frequently more times when i've wanted to, you know, be a lot more aggressive in the responses that i've made. have i been treated well? doesn't really matter. at the end of the day, people are not going to remember some of the silly stuff that was
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thrown at me. what they'll focus on are the accomplishments the men and women of the justice department have made under my leadership over the past six years. >> we'll compound it. the thing you'll be most proud you did and thing you wish you would have done. >> i think most proud is the -- the general way in which we have approached the whole question of civil rights, the fight for voting rights in the face of really, you know, turning our backs as a nation on civil rights history. i mean, i'm here in a museum, the documents of african-americans from 1619 and one of the parts of this museum that's most moving to me is the struggle for the right to vote and the fact that we have maybe turned our backs on that effort. so, i'm proud of that. i'm also proud of what we have done with regard to the criminal justice system and the way that has been approached, asking questions about, are we overincarcerating? are we charging people with
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crimes in a way we should not? are there ways we should do things in an alternative way? come up with scientifically proven evidence-based approaches that will keep fewer people in jail but at the same time, keep the american people safe. i think we can do both. >> another thing you wish you had done? >> i'm not sure that -- i think more about what we have done and the work we -- the things we have accomplished and i'm proud of the men and women of the justice department. i sometimes think, i wish i had more time, even though i think it's time for me to transition to something else, there's also something that -- that's just over the hor zone or just out of grass you think you want to spend more time on. this whole incident now, building trust in communities of color and people in law enforcement. that's something i want to spend a lot of time on but my time will be short but i'm confident
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the parents of a georgia teen found dead in a rolled up gym mat want want new educational requirements for coroners. the body of kendrick johnson was found nearly two years ago inside his high school gym. the county coroner ruled the death an accident. the family believes their son was killed and a second private autopsy suggests foul play. in addition to a federal investigation, the parents and their attorney are now pushing for kendrick's law. it would require uniform national standards for the nation's coroners, many are not required to have medical degrees.
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recently, joy reid sat with kendrick's mother and the family attorney, benjamin crump. >> i'll start by thanking both of you for being here and giving you our condo lens, mrsmrs. mrs. johnson. tell us what you want to see happen now that the county ruled your son's death not to be a homicide. what do you want to see done? >> i want justice for my son. >> and what does that mean? do you believe that arrests should have been made? does the family have its own sources of information as to who that would even be? >> well, joy, you know, they had an explanation and they had their own private pathologist that concluded contradictory conclusion of the local coroner and that was that he died from blunt force trauma. that's very different from want
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the local coroner opined. >> has the county -- ben, you can answer this question. has the county been in communications with the family to explain their reasoning in the case or to explain how the investigation was conducted? >> quite simply, joy, they told jackie and kendrick's father, ken, that even though they sent him to school with a book bag, he was returned home to them in a body bag and that he died from his own doing, trying to get a tennis shoe from out of a rolled up wrestling mat, got stuck and died. and that's their explanation and that has been their explanation. that's why ken and jackie refuse to accept that and say, we know foul play was involved. that our son was killed and we want to find out who killed our son. >> and mrs. johnson, if i may ask you, was there anyone you know of that had been threatening your son? had he been in fights with anyone at school, to your
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knowledge? >> yes, he had gotten in a fight, but i don't know about the threatening. >> did your son -- >> that was well -- >> go on, ben. >> he was in a fight with some individuals on a football trip and there has always been a question whether there was intimidate that played and maybe some bullying that played into what happened to cause his death on january 10th. >> mrs. johnson, have any other of your son's friends, any of his acquaintances spoken to you about what they think might have happened? >> no. well, a lot of them think the same thing we think, that he was murdered. >> and do they have any idea who they think did it? >> same person that everybody think did it.
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that's who they think did it, too. >> ben, there is an individual or individuals the family believes was involved in kendrick's death? >> well, they know the u.s. attorney's office in macon, georgia, michael moore is investigating. they sent target letters out to certain individuals who were schoolmates of kendrick as a target of an investigation to find out if they had anything at all to do with kendrick's death. and those target letters were sent to the children of an fbi agent in the georgia area. so, it is very telling that the u.s. attorney's office is investigating this matter as a homicide. because they heard everything that was presented by the local authorities and they did not accept that as being conclusive
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for their investigation and chose to investigate it as a homicide. >> so, now this case is being investigated by the federal government? >> yes, ma'am. thanks to the efforts of jackie johnson and ken johnson, who went every day to courthouse square in valdosta, georgia, and held up a son that said, please help us find out who killed our son, kendrick. >> lastly, mrs. johnson, are you confident you will get some kind of resolution from the federal government that you were not able to get from the county? >> yes, i am. >> what makes you confident in that? >> they're still working on my son's case. they haven't gave up on us. >> joy, and i -- please allow us to express to america that she's fighting for the legacy of her child. she knows she's not going to get her child back, but they are pushing kendrick's law which is
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a notion that's just common sense legislation that says a coroner who makes such a crucial decision on the manner and cause of death, which leads to whether or not they're going to investigate and charge anybody in the death of your loved one has to at least have a medical education or background. right now in the state of georgia, as many states in america, a coroner only has to have a high school diploma or a ged and win an election, and they get to decide the manner and cause of death of your loved one. they simply think that's not right and they're joining the national association of medical examiners to try to change that law that would bear her son's name because it's just good legislation. >> all right. we'll definitely be following up with you on that and see how that legislation moves forward. attorney benjamin crump and jacquelyn johnson, thank you both for being here. coming up, the national conversation on race is once
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on 18,000. santa class rally possible. a lot of people think we'll hit 18,000 before the end of the year. s&p also record territory, up almost four points so far today as the market closes in about 40 minutes. it's time now for stories you're buzzing about on social media in our segment called "we the tweeple" we start with the killing of officers liu and ramos. you're tweeting wit with #nypdlivesmatter and over 115,000 total tweets. some are connecting these officers' deaths to recent police shootings of unarmed black men. the vast majority of you are posting tweets like this, two wrongs don't make a right. no one deserves to lose their life, not a cop, not a civilian, nobody. you're also leaving your condolence on the facebook page wrote, quote, he was the best father i could ask for.
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it's horrible someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. and you're tweeting your appreciation for new york jets player nick mangold. he wore this nypd hat sunday in support of the victims' families. sadly you're tweeting about the passing of legendary singer joe cocker who died after the battle of lung cancer. the british born singer/songwriter "up where we belong," who hit number one winning a grammy and academy award in 1983. ringo starr of the beetles tweeted, good-bye to one of his friends. peace and love. you're sending tweets like this about his powerful work as an artist. r.i.p., you screamed, the walked, you danced, you sang for us all with your heart inside out. trending is marshawn lynch of the seattle seahawks who made a
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79-yard touchdown run right here. you're tweeting that he was in #beastmode. you're also sharing the transcript of lynch's postgame talk. lynch famously does not like mandatory interviews, so he responded to every question yesterday with a simple "thanks for asking." one of your responses to that, only thing better than watching marshawn lynch play football is watching his postgame interviews. thanks for asking. the elf on the shelf might be a little better than that. the elf on the shelf is a popular toy. he reports back to santa on whether a child has been naughty or nice. now, the elf shows up in different locations every day and kids see the elf as a live, moving and watching them. this dad tweeted, nothing more fun than watching my 8-year-old look for the elf on the shelf each morning. while washington post headline says, the elf prepares children to live in a future police state complete with constant surveillance. if you think that's far-fetched, listen to this law enforcement official in texas.
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>> picked him up from the airport coming in from the north pole. then he saw sheriff bishop and got sworn in. he's a special deputy with the sheriff's office. >> that's special deputy elf to you. there he is already doing police work. this is just a joke but it's got you tweeting things like this. i've got to be honest, the elf on the shelf creeps me out and i'm not completely convinced he doesn't move to new places on his own. join the conversation about this and that and more with fellow reiders on twitter, facebook, instagram and msnbc.com. that wraps up things for me on "the reid report." i'm richard liu in for joy today. tune in tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern and visit us online at thereidreport.msnbc.com. the holiday season is here,
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talk about in due time. >> cycling right now, mayor of the nation's largest city trying to calm growing tensions after the execution-style murders of two onduty police officers. good afternoon, i'm toure. we're about to hear from new york city mayor bill de blasio and police commissioner bill bratton. that will happen at the half hour. as we something on air, memorials are growing for officers liu and ramos who were killed inside their car in brooklyn. the aftermath is laid bear the growing gap between city leaders and its police officers. the issue began on the 2013 mayoral campaign trail when the mayor railed against nypd overreach, ending stop and frisk was central to his campaign. the rift deepened during the protest over ferguson and reaction to nonindictment in the eric garner case. and a move not seen in new york city for decades, police union members turn their backs on the mayor on saturday when he arrived for a press conference. the hot rhetoric we're seeing today has stunned many in the
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city. case in point, union chief pat lynch. >> that blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. when these funerals are over, those responsible will be called on the carpet and held accountable. >> the man who pulled the trigger began his spree in baltimore where he shot his ex-girlfriend. she survived and and is being treated at a hospitalized. then he took a bush to new york city. bratton says the officers were ambushed, targeted for the uniforms they wore. >> there are almost no words that can explain what happened. quite obvious the targeting of these police officers was a direct spin-off of this issue of these demonstrations. >> police say moments before the attack, the gunman told two bystanders, quote, watch what i am going to do.
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