looking for the main body of wreckage from this airasia flight. they didn't have much luck on that end earlier today. the sea state was just unworkable for experts who have specialists listening equipment out at sea now. 13-foot waves, violent thunderstorms passing through. they were not able to deploy these microphones, underwater microphones, which listen for the pings coming from the black boxes. they'll try that again tomorrow but the weather forecast really is no better. there was progress made in terms of recovering bodies. 21 bodies recovered from the sea today. among them according to the chief of search and rescue for indonesia were two victims who were still strapped into their seats. that has not been confirmed independently by nbc news. at least four of the victims have now been identified and returned. their bodies returned to their families. among them is a flight attendant

who worked for ash ashirasia for about two years, just under. the founder of airasia tweeted he was accompanying her body back to her hometown and would be attending burial with her family. >> kelly cobiella in indonesia, thank you. today the country is mourning the loss of one of its great liberal lions. three-term new york governor mario cuomo. accord fog his family he passed away last night of natural causes at the age of 82. he's being remembered as a political giant and a dedicated public servant. nbc's harry smith has a look back at the governor's life. >> reporter: mario cuomo passed away on the same day as son andrew was sworn in for his second term as governor of new york. earlier his son spoke about his dying father. >> his inspiration, his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point. >> reporter: mario cuomo was a son of the american dream. born in queens new york to

italian immigrant parents who came through ellis island with little more than the clothes on their backs. always active in politics cuomo became new york secretary of state in 1975. two years later, he ran against ed koch and lost his bid for the democratic nomination for mayor of new york. >> mario! >> reporter: cuomo was elected new york's lieutenant governor in 1978. and with help of his son, andrew as campaign manager, became governor in 1982. >> we won because people -- people and the passion of belief are still more important than money. >> reporter: cuomo was a liberal lion, who electrified the crowd when he delivered the keynote speech of the democratic national convention in 1984. his words aimed at president ronald reagan. >> there is despair, mr. president, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit, in your shining city.

>> reporter: the speech won him an instant following. many a democrat yearn for a cuomo presidential run. >> he's kind of the italian stallion of democratic party politics at the moment. >> reporter: his reluctance to run earned him an unfortunate moniker, hamlet on the hudson. seeking another four-year term as governor cuomo lost topy pataki pataki. after public office, governor cuomo joined a law firm and remained a visible force in new york politics including the support for his son, andrew who followed in his father's foot steps to become governor as well. cuomo leaves behind his beloved wife of more than 50 years, matilda matilda, and children chris, madeline, margaret, maria and andrew. >> joining me now is chris smith, contributing editor at "new york" magazine. you wrote an obituary of

governor cuomo and another article up at newyork magazine. one of the quotes you pulled was from your colleague in 1986 when cuomo was still the new york secretary of state. i want to read a little bit of it. it says cuomo's brains indecency are exceeded only by his indecision. you wrote that single sentence captured an essential truth about the man and started to define a complex narrative that would shape three decades of city state and national politics. do you think it is indecision that really defines mario cuomo's legacy or was it his full-throated championshiping of liberal values? >> i think the two very much go together. where they meet is in the man's great humanity. i mean he rose from nothing, as harry's piece showed. the son of immigrants from southern italy. he never lost his touch for the common man. and he never lost his touch for

the flaws of himself and other people. that came through in his compassion for the little guy. it also came through in self-doubt of his own worth, of his own capabilities. a brilliant man and as ken wrote in 1976 when cuomo was equivocating about running for mayor of new york city one who could see every angle, everything that could possibly go wrong and argue every side of the equation. if you flip forward to when he twice declined to run for president, you know it almost -- people say, well how cue -- you were a very popular politician. you would have been a front-runner. it takes almost a pathological desire to run for president in this country. and at bottom, he really didn't have that hunger. >> but what he did have was a first-class intellect thinker. a passionate man. in your obit you write about

that. people were focussing on the keynote address at the '84 democratic national convention. you focus on another speech he gave, religious mother alrality at notre dame. talk about that. >> this many years count road it's hard reproduce the context of both of suppose speeches, the reagan revolution, the me decade, the notre dame speech that governor cuomo came where he defended both his deep faith in roman catholicism and his responsibilities as an elected public official to uphold the laws of the land which included the legal right to abortion. and, you know cuomo was a very unusual combination then and probably impossible to duplicate now. part lawyer part writer part philosopher. he squared all those things in that notre dame speech at a time when the country was getting,

you know more conservative at a time when there was still, you know, even decades after john kennedy had been elected president, real skepticism about the possibility of a roman catholic president and, you know whose laws or rules might he be following? and cuomo in a very eloquent, well-reasoned, passionate thrilling speech in some ways explained how he could do both. >> definitely we've not seen his likes since. i'm sure the entire world is rereading a lot of those speeches today with his passing. "new york" magazine chris smith thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. a reid alert on harry reid. they say reid broke several ribs and bones in his face after a fall new year's day caused by broken exercise equipment. senator reid received hospital treatment but is expected back in washington when congress returns on tuesday. meanwhile, new sanctions have been levied against north

korea. president obama issued an executive order today in the wake of what it -- of what the administration calls a destructive and coercive cyber attack on sony pictures. the white house says today's actions are the first step of what the president promised would be a proportional response to north korea's unprecedented attack on a u.s.-based business. a suburban police chief is on administrative leave after investigators say he shot his wife in the bedroom of their georgia home. could it have been a horrible accident? nbc's gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: he's the top cop in peachtree city george. state investigators are trying to find out what happened inside william his home near atlanta, just hours into the new year. >> there are a lot of things we don't know yet about what took place that we need to know before we can make any decisions. >> reporter: authorities say the chief called 911 just after 4 a.m. thursday, telling dispatcher he had accidentally shot his wife in their bedroom with his department-issued handgun, similar to this one.

margaret was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. >> the initial reports we got from the 911 call were that the chief had shot his wife accidentally twice. as a result of our preliminary interview, we have found that he only shot her one time. >> reporter: police aren't revealing what led to the shoot organize how the gun could have accidentally fired. william has not been charged with a crime but is on administrateive leave. he had been the chief less than a year. >> the department's hurting at this point. we're very concerned, obviously, for his wife. we're concerned for the chief. >> reporter: neighbors are in disbelief. >> we've got a lot of people who are praying for her. >> reporter: and are hoping that what happened here was nothing more than a freak accident. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, atlanta. and coming up, damage control. how republicans are trying to fix the damage over house majority whip speech to a white supremacist group a decade ago. more on the death of former

new york governor mario cuomo. i'll talk to his colleague, charlie rangel. a federal judge breaks down one of the final barriers for couples who are seeking a marriage license in florida. iday music ]♪ can you help me up? [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. all day pain relief with just 2 pills. get back to being you. you're driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck you're dri slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn't there and the next second... boom! you've had your first accident. now you have to make your first claim. so you talk to your insurance company and... boom! you're blindsided for a second time. they won't give you enough

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welcome back. when the 114th congress convenes next week will there be any fallout from the revelation that the incoming house majority whip spoke before a white nationalist group a decade ago. many political watchers believe his new job is probably secure but that doesn't mean the story has gone away. mark moreill served as mayor of new orleans from 2000 to 2002. >> happy new year. >> let's talk about steve scalise. he said he gave lots of speeches at that time. he's owned up to speaking before the group. but this was a statement he gave. he said that one of the many groups i spoke to regarding critical legislation was a group

whose views i wholeheartedly condemn. a mistake i regret and emphatically oppose. the blogger who broke the story said it was about housing and urban development money that was given to quote, a specific amount of money. he was talking about subsidies that go to minorities. what do you make of this? >> i think on one hand steve scalise, most of us who know him, know him azs a personable but very conservative individual. that's why some people have in effect, not gone for his head right away. but i would say it raises a lot of large confess about whether there are other contacts, other relationships. not specifically by steve scalise but by other elected officials. what type of relationship exists on an ongoing relationship

between this duke hate group and other elected officials. i don't think we have all the facts, perhaps. and that's why i've reserved judgment. i want to have a conversation not only with steve scalise but also with the house majority leadership. and they have not historically in the last three years been open to having what i would call face-to-face dialogue with civil rights leaders and others around policy differences. and i think that that should happen and that's going to have to happen. i'm asking for it to happen. not that the dialogue is going to change anything but if we want to get 2015 off on the right foot and if we want to ensure that this is a moment to learn from then there's got to be that kind of dialogue. david duke is a despicable figure. >> but he's somebody who didn't get run out of louisiana politics all together. >> he got run to jail.

let's say none of these reports on david duke indicate that he was convicted and spent time in federal prison. for financial crimes. so, david duke whom we opposed and certainly who was an incendiary, divisive figure, not from a racial standpoint but anti-semitic in all of his expressions. and for this to give him an opportunity to resurface is indeed troubling. >> one of the things -- you raised a couple of points. but on the question of contacts lamar white, who is the blogger we had on the show i want to play you what he said about whether or not there were additional contacts between david duke's staff and steve scalise. take a listen. >> david duke claims his kam page manager was in close contact with steve scalise and they helped to organize the event. not organize the event, but confirmed that he was going to be an attendee at the event very early on. so it's clear that he knew who

david duke was and was coordinating with duke's people on this. >> is it possible that a politician at that time ten years ago, could not be clear who david duke was? >> no absolutely not. and i think this sort of exposes whether there may have been an under-the-table hand-holding relationship with some politicians and representatives of david duke after all. there were contacts between a former governor and david duke back in 1995. and what's that needs to happen. so i would encourage anyone who's had contact with this group, they ought to be transparent and not wait for it to be exposed. >> we just had the former senator who just lost her seat, mary landrieu get in a lot of trouble for simply saying there were racial issues at play in louisiana. do you think maybe those issues might need to be resurfaced and discussed or is this just the past -- >> to the extent people try to

suggest that racial disparities in health care education, and nicks do not exist in louisiana, they are looking the truth in the face and they don't see it. i mean mary spoke truthfully. the idea that some people would be offended by that certainly, i don't understand i don't get. it's important. louisiana is a great state. it's a home state. it's got great assets. we just had a great sugar bowl last night in new orleans. but it's also a state that when it comes to education and health care and a whole lot of issues rates at the bottom of the pack. so the idea is not to pretend it doesn't exist, but to deal with it, to work on it and not see a discussion of it is somehow being a negative thing. >> discussion and addressing sort -- you could say that about the whole country. thank you for being here. appreciate it. now three things to know on this friday. new developments in the shooting death of 12-year-old tamir rice

by police. the cleveland police department is in talks to hand over the investigation and all investigations involving deadly use of force by police to the cuyahoga county sheriff's office. police spokesman dan ball says nothing has been decided as of yet. rice was shot and killed by cleveland police officer outside a recreational center on november 22nd. officers told investigators they believe the boy was grabbing for a firearm which turned out to be a toy pellet gun. the nation's largest population of undocumented immigrants will be able to apply for driver's licenses starting today. the cal department of motor vehicles says it expects more than a million people to apply for a license in the first three years of the program. cal's one of ten states that now provides licenses to immigrants who are in the country illegally. and the stage is set for the college football national championship game. the ducks advanced after an impressive 59-22 rout of florida state in the rose bowl last night. heisman trophy winner marcus

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it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. time for "we the tweeple" and lots of are you using social media to remember mario cuomo with over 400 tweets her hour. many of you are sharing his epic keynote address at '86 democratic convention in which he riffed on president reagan's shiny home on a hill. >> mr. president, you should know this nation is more of a tale of two cities than it is just a shiny city on a hill. >> you're remembering cuomo's words about the people who sleep in the city streets, the gutter, where the glitter doesn't show. and calling him an unabashed,

unapot gettic liberal who wore his heart highways sleeve. cecile richards of planned harnt parenthood are showing personal piks. rest in peace, governor. music fans are buzzing about kanye west's new single "only one" featuring kanye singing over sparse mccartney keyboards about his wife with kim kardashian, north. the track is meant to be from the point of view kanye's late mother saying, my mom was singing to me and through me to my daughter. while although mentioning the name kanye means only one. some of you are loving the track. then there's this music history challenge whose moniker we can't show you who apparently has no idea who paul mccartney is but

shoots out kanye for always quote/unquote, trying to put on new artists. the music world is reeling with the news bono front man of u2 may never play guitar again. the irish rocker suffered horrific injuries last november in a high-speed bike axe in new york's central park. in a 6,000-word year-end review on the u2 website bono writes recovery has been more difficulty than i thought. as i write this is it not clear that i will ever play guitar again. who will console "the reid report" senior producer bridget flanagan who is after all, the biggest fan of u2 on the planet. there she is, probably plotting her revenge against me. can you join the conversation with -- call her bono. she's traumatized. with fellow "the reid report" fans. keep telling us what's important to you. i was out for a bike ride. i didn't think i'd have a heart attack. but i did. i'm mike and i'm very much alive.

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white collar and blue collar, young professionals, men and women in small business desperate for the capital and contracts they need to prove their worth. we speak for the minorities who have not yet entered the mainstream. we speak for ethics who want to add their culture to the magnificent mosaic that is america. >> that was another portion of mario cuomo's tale of two cities keynote address at 1984 democratic national convention. today he's being remembered by fellow politicians for the qualities that made him a political giant. president obama released a statement calling mario cuomo a determined champion of progressive values and an unflinching voice for tolerance, inclusiveness, farnness and opportunity. president clinton and his wife hillary clinton called mario's life the very embodiment of the american dream. joining me now is new york congressman charlie rangel. congressman, happy new year first of all. what is your sort of favorite kind of memory or what is the

overall memory that you have of mario cuomo? >> i guess would say that for those of us who select pom polllitics as a life-long endeavor when he spoke he made you feel proud. he said eloquently everything that we should and do believe and while he's tagged with this liberal thing, i can't imagine my love for this country and my beliefs and the things that he was talking about could have a label. to me it just sounds what those people who were drafting the constitution were thinking about. people coming to this country, poor looking for a way of life having a kid, learn him english, tell him to master his craft, work hard no money, no prestige, no well-known family. and become someone that could be designated as a possible candidate for president of the united states. what the hell is liberal about

that? i don't know. >> the thing is i think when people say that they talk about the values you just spoke about, and i would say you too are a great champion of them. you were forthright about your liberal beliefs or values. at a certain point in the 1980s those fell out of style and it became more of the politicians to trump it as individualism. did mario cuomo's style of politics fall out of fashion? >> i don't know what did fall into fashion, which i can't -- after your mother tells you you can become president or anything you want to be then you bump into someone called a consultant. you say, hey, mom said i could be president. what's your mom's name? what neighborhood are you from? how much money do you have? these are the issues. are you able -- but i believe it doesn't make any difference what you believe. are you willing to say this? and i think that is changed the political game republican and democrat, to some extent.

whether or not the roosevelts, the kennedys, the cuomos are going out and, you know even in my last campaign people thought they would fix me what they could say. i said i am paying you, but for god's sake i don't even know what i'm paying you for. he is what people hope to be. what they have to say to get elected, i don't know. he is fortunate. we are fortunate that genetically he's left a son that sounds so much like him that it's a constant reminder as to why we entered politics and what we can be. >> did you at the time in the '80s -- the late '80s or early '90s, were you one of those new yorkers who was urging him to run for president? >> no. i didn't urge him to run for mayor. i didn't urge him to run for governor. and i certainly -- you know

there was a time i wondered where the heck did mario cuomo come from? because i had filled the political well i drank from the political well and i had thought that anyone that was going to aspire to anyone should be a part of something that was organized so that if i didn't know you i knew the party that you belonged. and i was a very close, hard working friend of a few kerrys when he won and selected this woman, mary ann crusack, to be woman lieutenant governor. when she lost her political mind and he replaced her with mario cuomo, i was outraged. you know i had so many people that worked. here comes this guy. the only thing he had in common with hugh kerry and me is he went to st. john's law school. i was outraged but it proves one thing, that you don't have to go

to the political clubs to find someone that can best articulate the principles that we do believe. and on proved you don't really have to sign up as a captain go to the city council, do those things. everyone, no matter what job they had, would smile when they say, mario's on. >> he definitely made good. de very well. congressman charlie rangel thank you very much, sir. >> thank you, joy. >> thank you. for more on mario cuomo's legacy we're joined by terry galway, professor and author of history at keen university. thank you, sir. happy new year. thank you for being here. we've been talking a lot about what the overall legacy of mario cuomo will be in your view as a historian? >> well, i think it will be his speeches. i think it will be the way that he spoke up against the legacy of ronald reagan and margaret thatcher and the conservatism of the 1980s. as you suggested in your

interview with congressman rangel, the '80s were a difficult time to be a liberal, to be a progressive. and mario cuomo was not afraid to stand up there in san francisco, and in many other venues and say this is what the democratic party stands for. this is what we believe in. mind you, it's the exact opposite of what ronald reagan is telling you. so, i think, you know he wrote a book once called "more than words" and mario cuomo's legacy is, in fact more than words because he also had the courage as well as the words to counter that narrative that ronald reagan was preaching during the 1980s. >> you did indeed wright in your obituary in capital new york he was unafraid to challenge a comforting narrative with pertinent questions at a time when others simply preferred to go along to get along. i want to read an excerpt from your oe bitbit. william faulkner once said that

for young white men in the south it's a few minutes before 2:00 on july 3, and george pickett are waiting for longstreet to give the word. for those who covered mario cuomo a generation ago it's once time 3:15 on friday, a small plane is warming up bound for manchester new hampshire, and governor cuomo's office has just scheduled a press conference on the second floor of the state kopt capitol. do you think not running for president he aborted a potential for his liberal version of democratic politics to be sustained longer? >>, no i don't think so because i don't think he had -- he had it in his heart to run for president. i think at a certain level he was humble about his talents. to run for president of the united states, as chris smith said earlier in the show you have to have that feeling, that fire in the gut. and i honestly don't think mario

cuomo had it. i think he recognized that. i think there were times when he thought, well, you know maybe it would be nice to sleep in the white house every night. but i think at the end of the day, he was concerned about new york. and he was focused laser-like on the issues of new yorkers and felt that that was where he would have his greatest impact. in that regard, i think he was right. >> i think many, many new yorkers agree. terry, thank you very much. >> thank you. we now have some sad news to report to you today. the girlfriend of john crawford iii, the man fatally shot by police while carrying a pellet gun at an ohio walmart, has died in a car accident. 26-year-old tasha thomas, who was with crawford the day that he was killed, appeared as a guest on this show back in december. police say that thomas was pronounced dead at the scene after the car she was traveling in struck a pole at a high rate of speed on new year's day. the car's driver was also killed in the crash. ving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn't there and the

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well jeb bush's potential gop opponents in 2016 have a lot to think about this weekend. just before the ball dropped, the former florida governor made his strongest signal that he may be running. an aide announce the he resigned on all corporate and nonprofit boards, a significant sign that the bush political machine may be gearing up once again. a columnist with "the daily beast" and angela is a political strategist. all right, lady and gentleman, jeb and bush in for sure not in for sure? quick round robin. angela? >> in for sure. >> michael? >> yeah i would have to say it looks that way. >> so then the question then would be that if jeb bush gets in where would he run from in terms of his position on the board, which at this point the republican party is right or really, really far to the right. where do we think he's going to come down? "the new york times" is trying to debunk the idea that the person most compared to him, mitt romney actually ran far to the right to get the nomination.

they're saying mitt romney won the nomination the same way most modern day nominations win by shoring up endorsements of party leaders before the first primary. would you argue for jeb bush job one is to get comfortable or get the right comfortable with him or job one is to snap up all the endorsements? >> i'd say probably the latter. and i think that he'll get a lot of them. i think, certainly, establishment money is going to flow in his direction without him having to even work that hard to get it because the establishment is so desperate for someone like him. i think if he does that and nails down a number of those kinds of endorsements i think that's probably his first move. you know joy, the interesting thing about bush is though he is the obvious establishment candidate in some ways he doesn't poll any better against hillary clinton than rand paul or any of these other folks. if you look at polls, he's the same five six, seven points

behind her in most surveys that all the rest of them are. >> i think that's a very important point, that is it sort of amuddle who might break out of that pack. one of the interesting things is the perception of jeb bush is that he's going to try to push away from the farthest right part of the party and take the risk of doing that even though those really are the primary voters. one of the interesting things that just happened recently is he declined an invitation to go to a steve king function happening in iowa later on this month. does the fact that he's not going to be there at a confab where you'll have chris christie, steve king, more conservative elements of the party on stage, does that signal anything to you about how jeb bush might try to run? >> it makes me hopeful a little bit, but what i will tell you, joy, is just to get back to that last point, is that there's becoming, i think, a decreasing divide between the establishment and the funders. i think that now you have folks who -- the establishment is the far right. it has changed. and the far right are the

largest funders. there was a study done by politico where they -- there was an analysis on how many people the top 100 donors for both parties, give the same amount as over 4 million people. and those are the folks who he's going to have to pander to to run. i think he will shift, you know center of right but that shift will not happen before primary season is over joy. we can assure you of that. >> well let's talk about sort of broadening out to angela's point the shift may not happen until later but the funders and right are so central to what the party is now. michael, i'm curious how you think the steve scalise moment is going to play in this new congress. republicans have been very proud to taut what they say is an increasingly diverse face of the republican party. mia love has come out being very support of steve scalise, saying she's very supportive. how does steve scalise's presence as number three guy in the house complicate that?

>> well you know i guess i'd like to say that it really complicates it, but i don't know that it does very much. i don't see any enormous amounts of pressure on him from within republican or conservative circles to quit his leadership post. i just don't see that much pressure. and there's no pressure that liberals or democrats or "the new york times" or msnbc can place on him. let's face it. so you know i think he's probably there and as long as he has back willinging from mia love and senator scott, he'll be there. issues will pop up from time to time that len able democrats to remind people of what scalise did and said. i don't see it being a major issue six months from now. >> to that point, we had the president and ceo of urban league on just a few moments ago. he said one of the challenges is that the republican leadership

has in the past been loathed to address civil rights groups. does optics matter in the way the republican party is attempting to present itself to potential voters or are they throwing that out the window and ignoring the scalise moment and thinking it won't affect them? >> first of all, this has not just been a partisan defense of scalise. for example, cedric richmond who is also in the louisiana delegation defended the character of steve scalise. so, there's not any of the accountability that would say, you should step down from either side. i think that makes that proposition all the more challenging. what they should be focusing on is not that he spoke to them in 2002 but that he's continued to have a relationship with david duke's not body man but a chief aide, who is also part of this white supremacist group. i don't think we've seen the end of this scalise matter.

i'm not attacking his character. i'm calling what he did ignorant. i think there needs to be much more attention not just on his actions but everyone else's in the party. they need to be far more attentive to that. >> to be continued. thank you, both. happy new year. >> thank you. coming up a landmark ruling that just cleared the way for same-sex couples to tie the knot in florida. these ally bank ira cds really do sound like a sure thing but i'm a bit skeptical of sure things. why's that? look what daddy's got... ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! growth you can count on from the bank where no branches equals great rates. you know i tried one of those bargain paper towels but the roll just disappeared. bounty is 2x more absorbent so one roll lasts longer. bounty. the long lasting picker upper i've had a lot of hondas. we went around the country talking to people who made the switch to ford. i loved the look of the fusion... we test drove it...i was like "this is my car". all-wheel drive is amazing... i felt

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after months of confusion and nearly a dozen lawsuits and last stand by socially conservative clerks in three florida counties, gay and lesbian koumscouples in the sunshine state will be able to marry on tuesday. after a federal judge robert hinkle stated county clerks are legally obligated to issue marriage licenses, whatever their personal beliefs. hinkle also ruled florida's gay

marriage ban unconstitutional last summer. in his ruling which came after clarks in duval, clay and baker counties avoided all same-sex marriages judge wrote history records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders on federal constitutional law. there should be no debate on the question of whether a clerk of the court may follow the ruling even for marriage license applicants not even party to this case. joining me are deputy director of equality florida and his partner, christopher .bicycleoykin. >> thank you. >> let's talk about this last stand which has been cleared away by the judge. what did you make of these clerks essentially saying they'd rather do no marriages at all than marry a couple such as yourself?

>> i think that's shameful in a celebration that should be love and commitment they're making this last stand. i think it's an embarrassment for them and something they'll regret. just to be mean-spirited, is just awful. >> christopher, you know there are a lot of issues although play. i think that straight couples don't even think twice about in terms of gay marriage and the ban. a few other cases are impacted by this ruling. i'll give you a couple of them. a broward case that dealt with the right to divorce. a palm beach case that dealt with the right to be recognized as executive of one man's estate. how much do those little things do you have to explain to maybe straight allies that don't understand why it's so important to have marriage. you end up having to explain those minutia to people? >> tons and tons all the time. i'm going to let stratton -- >> yeah i'm -- >> i'm sorry. i switched -- >> i'm the activist side of this. yeah, you take so much for

granted. we've been together for 21 years. we had a wedding ceremony in south carolina 15 years ago. and our friends and family have thought of us as a married couple forever. we don't have a single right under the law. we're completed as complete strangers. we're excited all of that is about to change come monday night at midnight. >> and there's still that was ruled unconstitutional, too and remains on the book. i'll ask you, what does that mean and how does that complicate this in terms of this case an adoption? >> right now gay and lesbian couples can adopt children throughout florida. it's a statewide ruling binding statewide. the statute remains on the book but unenforceable. since this time gay and lesbian couples were adopting since 2012. >> a little birdie tells me you

might be from the carolinas and not a florida native. do you feel the atmosphere, sort of the vibe about this issue, about gay and lesbians is change negotiate south or do you feel it's still difficult just to do the day-to-day work of not really activism but getting people to understand that your relationships are really no different? >> so, joy, i'm from mississippi. strat's from south carolina. absolutely. things are changing over the last decade or so. particularly in young people. i think it's much easier much more normal it should be. >> yeah. and, stratton -- no go on. >> i think the climate is improving worldwide, particularly in young people. because love truly is love. and i fell in love with this boy 21 years ago. people that know us see that. we -- i left mississippi when i was a boy. and so i live in the bubble of miami, but all of our friends here know and it's rael great to be out and be open and to be authentic with your friends and

family and people at the grocery store about your relationship. >> we are seeing hearts and minds change across the south. i called my mother the day south carolina started marrying same-sex couples. we celebrated together. and this is not something in one part of the country. it's everywhere. as folks get to know us and we can live more openly -- >> there are still patches the of the map but there is one other issue that's not been resolved and that's employment nondiscrimination. do you see that as the next legal frontier for the lbgt community? >> absolutely. basically two-thirds of the country, people can go out and get married and then put their wedding picture on their desk at work and be fired for being gay or lesbian. we have to change that. florida has to change that. we've seen local communities stepping up to the plate. but we've got to see that in state and federal law. that's definitely on the agenda.

>> well stratton christopher, happy new year thanks to you both. >> happy new year joy. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you next week at 2 p.m. eastern. "the cycle" is next. do i see -- there they are. happy new year, cyclists. >> glad to be back with you in 2015. we have a forward-looking show to celebrate the new year. where should you travel in 2015? what political races should you look out for? and the question that susan is most looking forward to is america back in 2015? >> america is back. but i volunteer to travel to tahiti tahiti. just throwing that out there. >> good idea. >> "the cycle" is up next.

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frempbl specialists are working to scan the sea bed for the fuselage. that's the main cabin where investigators believe many of the 162 victims will be found. they're also looking for the black box usely highly sensitive metal detectors and under water hydrophones used to detect acoustic pings. there are 24 days left on the black box battery for flight 8501. it all depends on the weather. it's monsoon season in that part of the world. air searches are becoming increasingly difficult. look at the cloud cover they're up against. anything that was floating six days ago has probably sunk by now. the focus is an area about 100 feet down. 50 divers are on standby, waiting for calmer seas.