this. this came as a complete surprise, you know. chris -- i mean he never leaves the house. he's a mommy's boy. he never showed any -- any signs of any kind of violence or anything. i mean quiet, shy, good kid. i think a lot of it was coercion. i think he got coerced. no way he had the money to carry out any kind of terrorist attack and no way he had the money to buy those guns today no, way. >> nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us live from washington. cornell had a preliminary court hearing yesterday and officials say he never bought any components for a pipe bomb and never a danger to the public but still we've learned more about his interaction -- alleged interaction with the fbi. >> reporter: well, what we know is from the court documents that came out yesterday detailing the case, and it says that investigators believe he wanted to carry out the attack as a way of supporting the isis terror group. they say that he talked about his plans to somebody that they

thought was sympathetic and turned out to be working for the fbi. according to these court documents the plan was to set off pipe bombs at the capital and then shoot people. this man, who is 20 years old from suburban cincinnati first came to the fbi's attention last august when he began posting messages on twitter. he expressed support for isis. he met somebody in the cincinnati area he thought was sympathetic that turned out to be this undercover operative, and then yesterday he went to a shooting range and bought two assault-type rifles along with 600 rounds of ammunition and as he walked out of the store, that's when he was arrested. court documents say that he drew his inspiration from a former al qaeda figure anwar al awlaki and videos from isis. he said in one message that the brothers over there, meaning isis, had given thumbs up for acts of jihad. now, you heard his father say he was coerced. family members say that he didn't even have the money it would take or even a car, tammy.

>> pete beyond what his family has described, what do we know about his background other than what's been revealed in these court documents? >> well he was a wrestler in high school. one former friend of his on the wrestling team said that he was a loner and that in his senior year in college or in high school rather he became something of an anti-government person and withdrew. he converted to islam. his family said he had a part-time job at a retail store and was not working right now. >> all right. pete williams thank you very much. we'll have the details there and keep the audience up to date on the next court appearance. meantime right now secretary of state john kerry is headed to paris scheduled to arrive in half an hour following his meetings earlier today in bulgaria. in paris he'll meech with french officials including president francois hollande in the wake of last week's terror attacks. >> the visit to france is

basically to share a big hug with paris and express the affection of the american people. >> secretary kerry's visit follows criticism that the obama administration did not send a top official to participate in sunday's massive unity march in paris attended by over 40 world leaders. the white house admitted that was a mistake and a french newspaper reports this morning police found a huge cache of weapons at a home in suburban paris rent by one of the gunmen the gunman responsible for the attack at kosher grocery store in pairs, and we also have pictures of last friday's attack at the store. they show the individual showing terrified hostages inside that store where authorities say he killed four hostages and more funerals are being held today. three "charlie hebdo" staffers and one of the police officers killed are being laid to rest. nbc's ron allen joins us live

now from paris and more information on this massive amount of weapons uncovered there and also potentially a new break that we could hear about very soon. ron? >> reporter: yes, that weapons cache supposedly belong to acule bale the man who took the hostages at the kosher grocery store and killed four and then killed in a hail of gunfire. very dramatic pictures from a very dramatic day last week. of course the other attack happening out in an industrial park with the kouachi brothers and also taking a couple of hostages where we understand investigators have traced that weaponry, some of it at least, to an arms dealer in belgium perhaps and also new information suggesting that coulibaly may have spent some time in spain, madrid, sometime before this attack, in the days leading up to the attack. all of that is significant because it suggests that's places where he may have had

help or accomplices who were part of the plot and we saw pictures of his common law wife or girlfriend hayat boumeddiene passing through turkey on her way to syria last week as well. we saw the pictures. that happened before the attacks as well. all of these are threads and paces of a jigsaw puzzle to term if there are more accomplices, what they may be responsible for. and today is also a day of public morning. over here there are people standing around what a public display of the magazine "charlie hebdo" as the funerals are being held for some of the cartoonists to remember very high-profile figures in paris who had a public posture before their work at the magazine. they are known to the french

public and are celebrities in many cases, and today the ceremonies, the funerals are very public there being carried on television really heartbreaking moments that are bringing to light and really bringing in stark relief the -- the lives of the people who were lost during that -- that awful attack last week. >> ron, let's just quickly also talk about secretary kerry's visit. he described it as basically going to share a big hug with paris and expes the affection of the american people. what else do we know about his visit? >> we certainty it's going to be very private. we don't believe he'd be public and visit some of the scenes we don't know but we don't think it's likely. he'll meet with the french president and continue the friendship and cooperation that's been going on here.

this country is trying to figure out how to deal with this home grown terrorism threat and the u.s. has been a partner in all of that and this country has been a partner in some of the efforts to step up the pressure on isis in the middle east with the air campaign goingon. it's a trng relationship and not a lot made of a high-ranking official could tom here several days ago, but it is a sensitive thing and people are wondering what was more important and why didn't they come? again, kerry will have to emphasize the continuing relationship here that's been going on -- this is our longest ally, and that's what he's going to emphasize when he comes here. >> thanks very much ron, live for us in paris. also following developing new, new u.s. cuba trade and travel rules will go into effect tomorrow ending the mark of an

era. it will allow americans to travel to cuba without having to get a specific license from the government as long as they are traveling for approved reasons. travel agents and airlines can also begin booking flights. travelers will be permitted to use credit cards and bring up to $400 worth of goods back into the united states and cubans living in the u.s. will be able to send more money to cuba. this comes after, of course president obama's announcement last month or historic shift in the u.s.-cuba policy. in a statement he says these changes will allow the cuban population to be less esdependant on the state-driven economy and help facilitate our relationship with the cuban people. and a major shake-up at the secret service. four top level officials are being forced out after a series of scandals. the four each have more than 30 years of service and are in charge of protective operations investigations, public affairs and technology.

now the move essentially guts the agency's leadership. this means that six out of the eight top leaders will soon be gone, and, of course this all follows julia pierson's resignation as the agency's director after a han with a knife jumped the fence and made it to the white house. the white house correspondent kristen welker joins us now. many people want to know why these individuals and were they seen as part of a major problem? >> reporter: well i think they were seen as part of the culture within the secret service, that according to an independent panel which just released its findings is deeply flawed. i think there was a sense there was new leadership needed at to. this is a major overall. four assistant directors will be reassigned. they are dale papillo with protective operations, paul morrissey with investigations, jane murphy of governmental and public affairs and mark capanzi,

a top official in technology. the acting director, joseph clancy, released a statement yesterday, tamron that reads in part, quote, change is necessary to gain a fresh perspective on how we conduct business. there's bipartisan support for this move. congressman jason chaffetz who is the chairman of the oversight committee saying these departures are a step in the right direction. the secret service needs to operate less like a good ol' boys network and more like the elite protectors of our president that the american people expect. as you mentioned, tamron this all comes after a series of security lapses. one of the biggest ones dating back to 2012 when a number of agents were fired after they were caught with prostitutes in an official trip to cartagena, colombia, and late last year when the fence jumper jumped over the fence and made it deep inside the white house, so again, those four assistant directors will be reassigned. no word on what their new positions will be and when those

reassignment takes effect but i tamron. >> thank you. the atlanta mayor under fire after his decision to fire the city's fire chief saying he did not have per miss to public a boar but chief's supporters say he was fired because of his christian faith. >> everything i both in the book is based on scripture. it's not opinionated. >> his judgment is the basis of the problem. >> mayor kasim reid will join us live. and as house and senate republicans get ready for a major meeting today, battle lines being drawn. we'll have report of growing backlash against a potential mitt romney run. >> and this. there you have it great a celebration.

america's newest rock stars after two daring american climbers reached the summit of el capitan. what will they do next? find the team at "newsnation," find me on facebook twitter and instagram under my name. ♪ ♪ ♪ curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. 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

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welcome back. we are following developing news right now. this is massachusetts where the state police are working to reopen all lanes on the stretch of interstate 93 in boston. activists protesting recent police violence against african-american men shut down the highway during the height of rush hour traffic. 29 people were arrested. protesters chained themselves to 1,200-pound barrels filled with concrete. fire fighters actually used power saws hammers and chisels to free those protesters. so again, this is the aftermath

of that and a big controversy is brewing in than thea over mayor kasim reed's decision to fire the city's fire chief over a book the fever chief wrote condemning homosexuality. former fire chief calvin cochran did not get prior approval to publish and distribute the book "who told you were naked." in the book cochran describes homosexuality as vial vulgar and inappropriate. the former fire chief says he did get permission to publish the book and claims in a statement he was fired, quote, for no reason other than my christian faith. many christian groups are coming to cochran's support claiming his dismissal is a violation of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. this week hundreds of his supporters rallied at the georgia state capitol and then marched to the mayor's office demanding cochran be reinstated. joining me now is the mayor of atlanta. thank you so much for your time.

>> good morning, tamron thank you for having me. >> let me first start off with whether or not the fire chief got permission to publish this book. i know that that's a key point for you and the city council. >> he absolutely did not. i'm the chief executive officer of the city of atlanta and it's undisputed he never discussed this book prior to publish it for did he get my permission didn't get permission from the ethics officer or ethics board so this is a situation that was so serious that he picked up the phone, had multiple conversations with the ethics officer, but he's a member of my cabinet and senior team and never discussed with it me and that's one of the primary reasons that i made the decision to separate him from the city of atlanta. >> are know obviously from his supporters and you were there as they wanted to confront you about this. they see this as an issue of freedom of religion despite what many would see as offensive

words. he says this is his belief as a christian, and this is essential essentially him being punished for that. >> yeah, tamron, you have beliefs but if you were to write a book that you knew would be controversial, you would check in the with leadership at nbc so the bottom line is he didn't do that and then during the investigative period he continued to talk after we said that during the investigation we all needed to remain silent and so the fact of the matter is this is all about his judgment. there was an editorial in the "new york times" this week that really laid this out simply. he didn't get the permission that was needed. he didn't discuss it with me and i hired him at the end of the day to put out and prevent fires, not to be at center of one. and the fact that i'm on your show right now is precisely the reason that we require people to get permission before sublishing books.

he identified himself as the fire chief of the city of atlanta and he's supported chick-fil-a during a controversy in georgia and he's suspended people in connection with that for a 30-day period of time. i think as the facts are known, people will see this was a very clear decision and most of the folks who were at that rally who have signed that petition or tweeted me or e-mailed me don't live in the state of georgia. 90% of these folks who have been making the most noise don't even live in the city of atlanta. >> but to that point many of them say this is larger than the city of atlanta. they see it as freedom of religion. franklin graham for example the president and ceo of the billy graham evangelistic association said because of something that he published for his bible study he is's being persecuted for what i believe is religious views and this should not be tolerated. we need to come together and support thomas menino like this.

before we go on we just got in a statement from the former fire chief. let me hear what he said. >> i believe and all know with all my heart that my termination is unjust. i received permission to write the book from the ethics director, and there's evidence that there is no -- no act of discrimination against any member of the lbgt communities at large or members of the fire rescue department. >> so the fire fighters union has praised you for your decision. is this the final decision here? is there room for change her? >> there absolutely is no room. i made my decision and will take with it. definitely got get permission from me. he's created this controversy and while i respect mr. governor

i don't talk about the more of the political issues than a matter of faith. he was not terminated because of his faith. he was terminated because he did not get appropriate approvals and he's a member of my cabinet who serves at the pleasure of the mayor. and so i made the decision that because of his poor decision-making and because of the way that he behaved during his suspension that i didn't want him to continue as a member of my senior leadership team representing my administration in a city that is so diverse and that is the home of dr. martin luther king. >> mayor kasim reed thank you so much for your time today. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> certainly. coming up as the pope begins his visit to the philippines, he begins the paris terror attacks and says you cannot insult someone else's faith. we'll have more on what the pontiff said. plus the two rock climbers who conquered el capitan are

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it could've been brenda. bump back. they side it could not be done but can't stay thy more. the two american hikers who child to the top of el capitan in yosemite national park are looking towards their next adventure. cameras were rolling during the 19 grueling days as kevin jorgeson and tommy caldwell became the first to free-climb the 3,000 granite foot wall. earlier this month kevin told nbc's matt lauer what it was like to grip the last few inches of granite and pull himself to the top. >> i'd been picturing what it was going to be like to climb that last ten feet to the summit for a very long time, and i remember frangrabbing the top and pausing for a second making sure it was real and then the cheers erupted, and it was. >> nbc cameras were rolling when

the duo made it to the top. halle jackson has a look at their historic moment. >> reporter: tamron today the two climbers woke up after a good night sleep in a real bed with the chance for a real shower for the first time in 19 days. they are rejoining their families back on solid ground hours after making history. >> well done. >> reporter: at the summit a celebration like never before because this hasn't happened before. tommy caldwell pulling himself over the edge of the dawn wall followed minutes later by climbing partner kevin jorgeson. tears and hugs with their feet finally planted on top of el capitan. cameras rolling on history. >> this is the moment that has been so many years in the making. we were here live. >> reporter: our nbc team's eight-mime mile hike to the top, a cakewalk compared to the grueling two and a half weeks that the climbers spent suspended on the side of this cliff. >> some of the most precarious climbing i've ever done. >> reporter: inching up 3,000

feet of smooth granite, sometimes falling down and never giving up on a climb once thought impossible until now. from the meadow below, family members watching the final few seconds of the climb. >> it's done. it's done. >> you were shaking like a leaf. are you cold or are you emotional? >> i'm emotional. >> he's worked so hard for this. >> reporter: after years of planning, high-profile stumbles and 19 days of pushing themselves to their limit the finish happened fast. >> they both stayed totally positive and totally committed. >> oh, my god. i'm standing on top right now. >> reporter: a climb watched by the world, even the white house, which posted on instagram you remind us that anything is possible for millions inspiration from two friends who earned every inch of this incredible view. >> yeah dude. >> a moment they will remember forever. >> what a job. >> reporter: a feeling they will

never forget. both climbers are already thinking about their next adventure. tommy caldwell says he plans to he had to patagonia next month for another ascent and kevin jorgeson will do some climbing in france. tamron. >> all right. good stuff. my favorite story today. coming up the nra in schools? a south carolina lawmaker wants to force students to learn about guns in a curriculum that the nra is helping to design. it is our "newsnation" gut check. we'll tell you how you can let us know what you think about it. plus the battle turns now to immigration and why the plan to de-fund the president's executive action is dead on arrival. and then -- >> i still love you,r father but it doesn't mean it was healthy to stay together. >> that clip from "boyhood" and

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welcome back. house and senate republicans are huddling in hershey, pennsylvania, for a two-day retreat and thoughts of 2016 are firmly on everyone's mind. senator ted cruz is the latest name making headlines by throwing his name in the 2016 mix telling reporters in hershey yesterday that he is, quote, looking at it very seriously. now the retreat comes just as the republican national committee announced the dates for its 2016 convention which will be held in cleveland in mid-july. that is about six weeks earlier than the 2012 convention which was held in late august. now party chairman reince priebus says the convention was moved up to july to allow the eventual nominee to gain early access to general election funds. nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert -- excuse me luke i'm getting

tongue-tied this morning. >> reporter: don't worry. you do double duty all the time. how are you? >> good to see you. >> reporter: indeed. >> let's talk about this "wall street journal" editorial on myth romney saying if myth romney is the answer what is the question? it's hard to see what advantages mr. romney brings that the many potential first-time candidates who have succeeded as governors do not. what is the buzz friend? >> reporter: well the buzz is as follows. you're starting to see a lot of republicans think twice or i should say think three times now about mitt romney and whether or not this is a good idea. aside from some of his close allies from utah you'd be hard presseded to find somebody of real importance within either the senate or the republican conference that's going to the mat this early for myth romney. interestingly enough tamron, whenever we've been on these retreats before house speaker john boehner has always hinted that his support is really more towards the jeb bush side of the establishment wing and he would very much like jeb bush to run.

the problem that romney is running into and his running mate paul ryan is actually holding a press conference and we'll definitely ask him about this. the problem he's running into, the economy is getting better trying to promote yourself as an economic change agent back in 2012. that would be more difficult for you to do, so what exactly is your rationale for running? going to try to run as the anti-poverty candidate and a lot of republicans i've spoken to doesn't add up. here's the guy with the 47% thing that's still very much stretched into the minds of the american people that 47% of americans suck down government benefits, that's something very difficult for him to overcome if he's going to try and become the candidate about poverty on the right side. >> all right. well we'll see whales comes out of that as it seems as though a lot of the big names are saying they want new energy but what does that mean? luke, thank you so much. we'll talk to you later. one hot topic at the gop retreat, the controversial bill

that defunds homeland security and strips president obama's funding on immigration. that bill easily passed yesterday but today politico questions the gop's end game saying the vote was, quote, a charade, a predictable outcome. everyone knows the senate cannot pass this version of the bill. what really wore's members of both parties is that no one, not even leadership seems to know what kind of bill could get through congress in time to avert a funding lapse. joining me live now, nbc senior political editor mark murray. where does it go from here? >> that's a great question and you put it really well on what's the actual end game? you have to know in the united states senate, which is now controlled by republicans, you're going to need 60 votes to clear procedural hardles and filibusters that democrats might launch over this. so the question is how does mitch mcconnell end up cobbling a coalition of 60 from democrats, from senate moderates who might be up for the ballot in some states like illinois and new hampshire in 2016 as well as the republicans who might be

running for the presidency in 2016 like the ted cruz rand paul marco rubio, republicans staking a more conservative tack. and it's worth noting too, that there were more than ten republicans who voted for comprehensive immigration reform in the 113th congress and so the question is you know do these folks also end up voting for some of these amendments rolling back president obama's executive action when it comes to deportation? >> all right, mark. we'll see what happens. greatly appreciate you joining us today. thanks. >> thanks. pope francis said today there are limits to free speech especially when it ridicules someone's religion. the pope was speaking to journalists about the attack against "charlie hebdo" while en route to his visit to the philippines. while calling free speech a fundamental human right the pontiff said quote, one cannot insult the faith of others. the pope also condemned the paris attack saying religion can

never be used to justify violence. up next new orleans becomes the first city to meet and exceed the first lady's challenge to give all homeless vets a place to live. coming up i'll speak with the mayor of new orleans, mitch landrieu and a new device that's being called the pacemaker for your appetites. one of the things we thought you should know. a driver speeding through a california car wash one. stories we're feeling around "newsnation." we'll be right back. sunday dinners at my house...

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curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. 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. welcome back. the ntsb says it will investigate a prison bus accident that left ten people dead and that tops our stories around the "newsnation" today. the bus skidded off an icy highway in west texas, slid down an embankment and collided with a freight train yesterday. this all happened. 15 people were on board and eight inmates and two colorectal officers were killed and five people were injured, including three in critical condition.

the prisoners did not have their seat belts on and were handcuffed in pairs. the colts are asking to place mcnairy on the exception list after he was accused of raining a woman. a 29-year-old woman told police she met him at a par and he raped her in her apartment after a long night of drinking. he denies those allegations. if the commissioner agrees he won't be allowed to practice or play with the team. a 94-year-old man was caught on camera zooming through a car wash in sacramento at about 40 miles per hour. he paid for the wash but said he could not take his foot off the pedal as he was driving through. thankfully no one was hurt but the car wash suffered an estimated $100,000 of damage. thankfully no one was hurt there. first lady michelle obama issued a challenge to eradicate veteran homelessness.

one major city has stepped up in a big way. new orleans has moved the last homeless vet off the street and they have eliminated homelessness for vote finding homes for 227 men and women who serve this country. last summer mitch landrieu was one of 71 mayors four governors and other local officials who gathered at the white house and pledged to join the mayor's challenge to end veteran homelessness by 2015. since then hundreds more have joined in. however, he took it a step further, getting the job done by the start of this year assembling a team of nonprofit an government agencies along with service members, shelters and other local organizations, and while the number is only a small portion of the estimated 50,000 homeless vets nationwide homeless advocates across the country are hailing the crescent city as a model. joining us now new orleans mayor mitch landrieu. congratulations on this.

>> thank you so much. great to be with you. >> let's talk about the team effort that it took to get this done, and i should point out well again and ahead of the goal date. >> a couple of things first of all. have a sacred obligation. we always say we won't leave a social on battle feil. moral imperative we wouldn't leave him on the streets either and we thought this was well within our wheelhouse when we started building after katrina, one of the models we created down here was partnership, vertical and horizontal from the nonprofit side and the cooperation of everybody's help and the veterans. really pleased about it. a lot of work we still have to do. we have to sustain it over time because you get to a function of zero, can't end it totally because every day another veteran will become homeless. it's about setting up a system so that when you find a veteran on the streets you have a system

set up to get him out and into permanent housing. >> with that system set up, does it also include help with mental health issues? >> of course. >> and also help getting a job. >> you have a bunch of problems. not only do you need permanent housing but you need a way to keep it and real problems is mental health substance abuse and, of course job training. we have those components built into the system as well. it's not fail proof yet. we continue to work on it and when we started we had about 197 veterans that we found, and by the way, with active military going out on the streets and helping us as well. >> wow. >> actually housed about 226 of them so now the challenge is going to be to make sure that it's sustainable over a long period of time, that they have mental health services but if the nation really means this of course we have to put the resources in place to make that happen so we had the veterans administration, the housing department and vouchers. it doesn't come without a cost and, of course, it can't get done without cooperation, but i'm really pumped up about our team. they did a great job, stepped

forward and took a challenge and reached out to the other mayors and said if you we can do this in new orleans you can do it across the country. >> what advice did you give the other mayors we're looking at 200, 230 vets in your area. listen, one is too many but you have other cities marger cities who have more vets who are homeless that they need to help. what's the one bit of advice that you can trickle up to new york grow graphically and other parts of the country? >> i would say coordination and partnership and also making it a moral imperative having an identifiable time which you want to do and demanding everybody come to the table and help break down the stove pipes that exist between and amongst all the federal agencies state agencies. by the way you can't do that without the private sector the philanthropic community and faith-based community and not-for-profits, all really a very important part of the process. >>-makers i've got to transition. as you know, people around the world will be traveling to your

great city that i'm very fond of, as you know for mardi gras coming up and i know that recently there was a protest, residents who were concerned about crime in the french quarter. murder is down and violent crime is on the rise and some have said as scary as they remember as it relates to the quarter and that people are nervous and tired. what do you say to those residents that are concerned at this point. >> well, first of all, violent crime is a problem across all of america. every major city has it and, of course, we have too much and our share of it in the city of new orleans. during mardi gras, as you know safest time to be in new orleans. we have police officers all over the place. it's a very safe place to be. we continue to struggle as every other city does. now on the good side of it our murder rate is as low as it's been since 1971. on the other side there's an uptick in violent crime right now, and our police officers are committed to make sure the city is safe. i think we'll be okay. it's always unnerving when there's an uptick in crime.

>> is there a budget aryary problem? >> most cities in america were laying off police officers laying off fire fighters because of budgetary problems and so over time have you to grow up. we need more police officers in the city. we have help from the state police and getting help from the surrounding parrishes. we'll be okay and like building being, everything takes time. really hard and in a tough moment in the city and like everything else we'll get through it. >> thank you so much for joining us. thank you, tamron. >> congratulations to you and all the amazing people, the active duty men and women who helped those homeless vets on the streets of new orleans. thank you. up next the "newsnation" gut check. a south carolina lawmaker wants to force students to learn about guns in a curriculum that the nra would help design. we're going to tell you how to weigh in on this, and we'll talk live with the senior editor from "variety" magazine with the winners and losers and why the twitterverse social media, so many people not happy with

that's happened to the movie "selma." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

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time for the "news nation" gut check, south carolina schools may soon teach gun rights based on a curriculum from the nra, the second amendment act of 2015 requires all stuntsz, even elementary kids to take a three-week class on the second amendment using material developed by the nra. it would designate december 15th as second amendment awareness day. south carolina state representative allen clemens proposed the amendment in response to zero tolerance rules. he told our nbc affiliate, it should be freely debated in schools and in sted being squelched, he wants a scholarly discussion, not everyone is on board. there's a petition circulating to stop the bill from passing.

opponents argue it should be taught and curriculum should be developed by educators. so what does your gut tell you about this one? would you agree on a mandatory class? and take a look what the nation is saying about yesterday's gut check. 23 elementary schools in orange county florida cut back on recess some cutting it out all together to give students more time in the classroom to prepare for the common core exams. we asked you, should elementary schools have recess? 98% recess loving viewers said yes. 4% wanted study apparently. it was arguably one of the biggest mornings in hollywood with the academy award nominations and topping the crop with the most is "birdman" and "the grand budapest hotel" with nine each. this morning, the buzz is about the snubs and surprises and

joining me to break it all down. good to see you. let's launch into the omg moment this morning, when you hit twitter. >> people were most upset about the director of the "selma" was supposed to be the first female african-american woman to be directed for best director and instead they went with five guys and snubbed not only her but angelina jolie. >> boyhood, wes anderson and "imitation game" as well. is this another -- i don't want to use the black eye, but black eye for the academy, but gender as well? >> only two top 100 movies were directed by women. 98 directed by men. it's a huge problem. there's no other job in which

men do all the work and women aren't allowed opportunities. if the academy isn't honoring women that make good films, they've got a big problem ahead of them. in best picture category you have "american sniper", boyhood, theory of everything whiplash. here you have "selma" nominated for best picture but ava snubbed. >> one of the big surprises this morning was "american sniper" came on strong, clint eastwood's movie about navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle bradley cooper got a surprise nomination and movie got six nominations and it's just coming out in wide release this weekend. so i think people are going to go see that. >> best actor category people focusing on the performance in "selma" but shut out of the best actor category for -- and jake

gyllenhaal, he was so good. >> if good means creepy that terrified me. >> he got precursor nominations but bradley cooper ended up taking his spot. speaking of creepy steve carrell also got nominated for foxcatcher. >> who do you thinks going to win? >> michael keaton for birdman and theory of everything. >> michael keaton has the old hollywood -- not that he's old, but people like that. >> never been nominated for an oscar. >> best actress category felicity jones, julianne moore -- >> i think julianne a

heartbreaking movie, early onset alzheimer alzheimers. >> best picture, what's going to win? >> i think "boyhood" is going to win. >> it is a front-runner thank you so much, great to have you on and running down the list with us and thank you for joining us for this edition of "news nation." i'll see you tomorrow which i think is friday. i hope so. up next, "andrea mitchell reports."

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before you begin an aspirin regimen. well, a mortgage shouldn't be a problem your credit is in pretty good shape. >>pretty good? i know i have a 798 fico score thanks to the tools and help on experian.com. kaboom... well, i just have a few other questions. >>chuck, the only other question you need to ask is, "what else can you do for me?" i'll just take a water... get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. right now, untangling the web, al qaeda says it helped the kouachi brothers carry out the "charlie hebdo" massacre. this could mean an even more dangerous competition with isis to come. >> for the last year isis has been dominating headlines overshadowing al qaeda, a

dangerous rivalry is emerging one upmanship between the two groups. al qaeda is launching a come back. faith and free speech. speaking out about "charlie hebdo's" provocative cartoons on the prophet muhammad the pope says when it comes to free expression, don't throw a punch and not expect one back. hugging it out, john kerry now in paris where tomorrow he'll give all of france a virtual embrace. >> my visit to france is basically to share a big hug for paris and express the affection for the american people for france. credit cards in cuba washington announces huge changes starting tomorrow. credit cards, flights, the internet all will be legal between the u.s. and cuba. details to come. on top of the world,