filling in for joy reid. we start with isis. the 72 hour deadline given by the terror group has passed with no process for their release. the group demanded $200 million to not exec suit a freelance journalist and security contractor. the mother of one of the hostages has made a tearful plea for her son. and we are joined now by steve. how is japan approaching these negotiations and have they signaled a willingness to pay the ransom? >> to my knowledge, japan has not signaled a willingness to pay this ransom not at the left of 200$200 million. there is receipt issence reported in japan about really doing much to contact isis itself. there is a mixed story where the government on one hand said it is trying to reach out to isis but it actually has a number of

academics in japan that did have contact with isis and they invited them in to watch over and litigate a case interestingly enough and this exposed the fact there are a number of people in japan who have been back and forth to syria who have been involved. but japan blocked them from playing a role and traveling so right now there is a stand-still between those people who did have relations with isis from japan and not allowed to contact the group. >> and steve, we're hearing from u.s. officials, as sect of state john kerry on thursday said allies are reversing gains made by sear so do you agree with that assessment? >> well i think isis continues to control a very very large swath of land. it has not been rolled back nearly as much. when you look at the amount of fire power thrown at it. it has shown a real resilience as it may be taking hits in places like kobani near the

turkish border in syria and other places in northern iraq. so i think the story that john kerry shared in london the other day is this is going to take a couple of years to roll back and stop looking for quick results. i think that is unfortunate, but i think that is what is showing to be the case. it is a $2 billion terror operation now and it has capacity over a huge swath of territory and has a lot of agents now operating on its behalf. so it is going to be around for a while. >> something that is of huge concern that we have to talk about is yemen and the crumbling government there. the u.s. ambassador staff are being pulled and the company's president has resigned so how will that effect u.s. efforts against the al qaeda affiliate there? >> well i think interestingly, whether or not the previous government was to hold which it has now collapsed or the houthis come in and play an outside role

which is complicated as well they are both opposed to al qaeda in eastern yemen. what is interesting is that the chaos in yemen helps fuel the ability of aqap to operate but to the degree that government becomes solvent and organized under either of the two factions fighting out of sanaa, it is a target of theirs and the united states. but the interesting wildcard is now with leadership transition in saudi arabia which is strongly opposed to the houthi takeover in sanaa, that is a crisis between the saudi border with yemen. >> sure. the threat of al qaeda and isis and the nuclear iran. and now to where king

abdullah has been laid to rest. less than 24 hours after hearing of his death, he was marched to a unmarked grave. and in the coming days joe biden will go to the country to offer condolences to the country. a men mow headine, what does his death mean for the stability in the area and the ongoing battle against isis. >> well his death is not going to change the source on isis and also as we heard from steve there in yemen. it is a matter of national security for the kingdom of saudi arabia so regardless of who is at the helm of the kingdom, you can expect the saudi arabian government to be

steadfast in fighting the group. and that is already the indication out of saudi arabia. there is no change -- even though there is a change in leadership. there is no change in the foreign policy of the country. you can expect some change on the domestic frnt front but -- front but not on al qaeda. >> and we've enjoyed the oil prices and it is down 1% today and so should we expect any difference involving the transition of the power. >> there was fluctuation today but that was put to rest once the saudi transition was made clear. the late king who passed last night was sick for some time so the government had a succession plan that has been in the past very consistent in terms of how the -- if you will, the reign moves from the king to the crown prince and those appointed in other government positions. that happened again in the past

24 hours so there was no disruption if you will no uncertainty about what shape the leadership of the country will take and as a result of the oil markets remain stable. going forward there are other factors in terms of the negotiations between iran and the united states and whether or not saudi arabia wants to keep the oil markets flooded, if you will, with an abundance of oil to keep prices low. that favors the united states in those negotiations because it undermines iran's ability to generate oil because the price is so low. and not only iran but russia is dependent on the sale of oil and the saudi arabia's ability to keep the oil is keeping russia in a weakened position. >>a med mohyeldin. thank you. and up next a talk between the u.s. and cuban government

has concluded and one of the biggest stumbling clocks human rights issues. >> we have no illusions about the cuban government and we don't have any illusions either about things changing overnight in cuba. >> gabe guiterrez joins me live from havana. gabe, one of the major sticking points here in addition to human rights and what are the chances for resolution? >> reporter: well francis, as you said progress has been made when it comes to u.s.-cuban relations but the issue is humanitarian relations. the united states is not under any illusions about the castro government but they pressed the government over the talks, over the issue of human rights. the cuban delegation said they

won't be pressured into anything and brought up what they call human rights violations from the united states, bringing up the issue of detainees at guantanamo bay. these talks on wednesday about immigration and stretched into thursday about a wide variety of issues including banking, telecommunications and the issue of human rights and the discussion about reopening embassies in havana and washington and appointing ambassadors but there were no specifics. there is no date for reopening the embassy in havana or washington. but the significant point is both sides have decided to meet again and this is the highest u.s. official from the state department to come to havana in more than 30 years and here on the streets of havana there is a lot of hope that these talks could lead to -- more positive relationships between the u.s.

and cuban after decades of mistrust. >> lack of confident. gabe guiterrez, thank you for that report. now to deflate-gate. minutes ago the nfl gave an update giving no time for the completion but nearly 40 interviews have been conducted into the allegations of cheating by the new england patriots. with more interviews to follow in the coming days. two of brady's faced the media, the two captains of the new england patriots. it was the first chance to hear inside of the locker room about how the team is handling charges reported by espn that air was let out of game possibles last week possibly to make it easier for tom brady to throw in the rain. a charge that brady denies. >> i think this team understands we have a leader that we never question. there is never any doubt, no matter what the situation is whether it be on the field, off the field. this team has a lot of trust in

tom and honestly, we are not -- i don't think anybody in this locker room is worried about it. >> chris pallone joins me life. you heard from the teammates, denying knowledge of what may have happened but how is that denial playing league-wide? >> reporter: well it is a mixed bag, francis. you have former players appearing on various sports shows acting incredulous about all of this. the fact that brady, who handles the ball on just about every snap can't tell the difference between a couple of pounds per square inch in the football and then some experts coming out, guys like joe theismann and other quarterbacks saying that makes perfect sense to them. it is just a couple of pounds per square inch of air. they handle the ball very quickly and pass it so the fact that brady said he didn't notice any difference during the game doesn't surprise them at all. the senior bowl is going on down

in mobile. that is a big scouting event for the nfl and people down there are reporting that a lot of gms and coaches are shrugging their shoulders about this. but you just alluded about the nfl statement that came out in the last half hour. the nfl is hearing the cries it has been too silent in the matter. the only thing they've acknowledge the up to this point is there is indeed an investigation and now we are learning por. they say they have interviewed 40 people in connection with the game and they retained a firm an expert in doing forensics on video surveillance. so they are looking at tape here in the stadium. and they have also verified that the balls were properly checked before the game and at half time new balls were put into play that fell within the guidelines and after the game those balls also checked as being legal. the one thing it doesn't matter at what point the colt footballs were checked and whether they were checked after the game as

well. so the nfl is hearing the cries they are being too silent on this matter. they have hired a law firm to assist in the investigation. the same law firm and person who conducted the investigation into the hazing scandal with the miami dolphins back in 2013. so the nfl is obviously trying to get in front of the story and show that it is indeed conducting a rigorous investigation. >> sure curious to see and hear in roger goodell speaks about that. chris pallone, thank you for that report. coming up romney cruz rubio and huckabee and a whole lot more. the field is getting crowded but who will emerge as the glowing 2016 prospect. but an update on the measles outbreak that has people stay ago way from the happiest people on earth. and is the anti-vaccination movement to blame?

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so much for the happiest place on earth. a west coast measles outbreak has california health officials warning people to stay away from disney unless they have been vaccinated. and that includes babies under one who are too young to get the vaccine or those who haven't been vaccinated. >> we made sure they got the vaccine. >> we were going to take our son who is only eight months. >> we don't want to put our son in yep-- in jeopardy. >> so we will wait a little bit. >> it has affected many states including mexico. state epideemyologists say they

have seen the same amount of cases in the last few weeks than they have in all of 2513. from the ceo of black america, dr. bear thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> is there any doubt there is a link to people not vaccinating their kids. >> no. the first thing is a charlotte charlottincharlottin doctors that published something saying the vaccine caused autism but he took $600,000 from lawyers to do the study and proven to show that the study was fraudulent and he coerced patients and misrepresented the whole thing. and that is everything published and it isn't proven.

and we don't call him a doctor any more. we call him mr. brakeland, not dr. wake land. >> and people think that may link my child to aux. but how bad is measles and when does the cause of death happen here when we are coming to the world health organization saying 400 deaths a day and the symptoms there. so what more can you tell us? >> well measles is very contagious. more contagious than ebola and people don't realize that. and very rarely it can cause death from a disease that you contract as a complication called sub acutenerosis encephalitis. and that means you get a brain engorgement and getting high fever, it is not something we haven't seen.

we know the 25-30-year-old parent now has never seen the scourge of illness so it is easy to listen to someone like jenny mccarthy or a pop icon said they don't want to vaccinate their child because they don't know the scourge of polio or never seen someone limping around america with polio and that is the biggest problem right now. >> and i've had other parents who i have play dates with that say i'm not for this vaccine thing. because i'm relying on you keeping your child safe and i'm going to benefit from that too. >> that is fair right? not. the vaccine is a live vaccine. so when it is shed by -- shed by children with the vaccine, other children could get vaccinated that way, but it is not fair and shouldn't happen and that is the reason why we must vaccinate our children. the american academy of

pediatrics recommends the measles, mumps and rubella. there is no disputing that. >> and i love that you are a fast talker. i'm an adult here. i want to get this question in. is there a chance i could have that. >> generally you get the first shot at 12 months and then the next one at 4 years of age and you can have life long immunity. you can have a decrease in your immune system if you are concerned you can get checked but you should have life-long immunity. >> thank you very much for getting that out and informing us well. the three things you need to know. john kerry will travel to nigeria and emphasize the importance of peace and nonviolence in the upcoming election. and the latest edition of "charlie hebdo" quickly sold out as soon as it hit newsstands in

major u.s. cities today. the distributor say only 20,000 copies went on sale for $7.50. worldwide demand for the paper has been unprecedented since the attack that killed 12 people including eight journalists. and the northeast is bracing for the first winter storm of the season. the national weather service said the exact track of the storm is unclear but some areas could get up to eight inches of snow or more.

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>> but should we agree with that. some say he was a tyrant king. it is not often that an unelected leader that beheads people for sorcery wins such glowing praise from american officials. and a twitter about the british reaction to his death. has the world gone mad? the flag at half mast because of the death of this leader. and deflate gate on your mind. with several topics including yesterday's giggle-worthy response from tom brady. >> you go through that process of breaking the balls and getting comfortable with them. i choose the balls that i want. i like them the way i like them. everybody has a presence. some guys like them round and some guys like them thin. and some guys like them tacky or

some like them brand new. some like old bees. >> did you tee-hee about that? i did. and here it is, tom brady reminds us we are still in middle school. really? and now to the miss universe costume contest. in addition to miss usa behind me right here that is her costume, women from dozens of countries paraded bold looks for the taping but only miss canada has seen her national costume go viral. some love her gown's ice hockey theme and with the tiara and stanley cup. this woman tweeted, whoever designed the canadian miss universe costume did that lady so dirty. but this man was deeply impressed saying without having seen other miss universe national cost assumes, but miss

canada wins. and robert morales is the host of the contest on sunday on nbc. join us on facebook twitter, instagram and on msnbc.com. and now this. even you tube stars get tongue tied when they interview president obama at the white house. i have green lipsticks. one for your first wife -- >> my first one? do you know something i don't? >> oh, for the first lady and the first children. >> i'm too speechless. >> let me take a look at these though. they are very -- i mean it is impressive stuff. i'm going to see how it looks and i'll ask michelle to try it on, maybe even tonight. >> okay. all right. thank you. but when i started having back pain

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heading into the final weekend before the super bowl bad news is there is no competitive football on tv. but here is the good news. the horse race to the 2016 presidential election is heating up. so we're talking about 655 days to go and there is already an estimated 25 potential republican contenders contemplating a run and many are exploring that possibility this weekend at the iowa submit hosted by allen king and the coke brothers. both of them followed yesterday. and here live with me attorney columnist and nbc contributor, raul reyes. thank you for being --. and i'll start with you, mark set the scene for us in iowa who is attending and who is not attending and who is speaking and who is staying away. >> fran ses, it is a big list.

chris christie and huckabee and santorum. and that is a good frame for this attendance and all of the focus on iowa. more likely than not, iowa will end up choosing the conservative candidate in the republican field. there is also this kind of conservative primary the establishment primary and in ways iowa is going to be choosing the conservative person who will take on the establishment figure and this is cattle call to be the first way for the conservatives to start making names for themselves. >> and raul we heard the guest list and rsvp and we also expect protesters here given king's anti-immigration.

and it was said that if they are going to come through in 2016 they need to stay away from immigration. >> i would say latinos special support immigration reform and the daka program. and for years, this summit predicted who the republican nominee will be but now they pick the conservative nominee in the gop and a large part of that is due to steven king. he's been running it because he's so controversial, he pushes the party to the right on immigration. i don't think it is an accident that some of the biggest names like rand paul jeb bush they are staying away because you could be tagged with an association with him. and even though it plays to the base in the general election, it could come back to hurt you.

and there is a movement there is people saying maybe steve king shouldn't be doing it. there was an op ed in the des moines registers that his influence is making the caucus irrelevant. and then the coke brother's primary. no tv coverage but what do we expect to hear out of this event, mark? >> there are some republicans not attending. steve king's iowa freedom conference, but rand paul will be in attendance and marco rubio helped to the passage of legislation in 2013 and ted king will be there. they will be interviewed by abc news, kind of a forum. they will be asked the same questions they get. talk about the 2016 field but the coke brothers are an influence in the republican

party. if you are running for the presidency or even thinking about it making a stop at their winter retreat in palm springs in california is a good plan. >> and nbc news has confirmed that marco rubio is taking steps toward 2016 and he's hired a new finance director. he has planned early state visits next month, skipping the votes to visit next month in california. will he or won't he? >> as things develop in the news, the idea of his candidacy becomes more remote. look at it this way. he was one of the architects of the bipartisan immigration plan that the senate put together and that was supposed to be his signature issue and that fell apart and he distanced himself and in his book i think maybe it is on five pages. his other signature issue was cuba and then with the president's announcement of the

new cuban policy he is on the opposite side even cuban-americans. so i think it will be hard to make the statement that he is still relevant and can compete against the donors of likely jeb bush but this is his chance. he will make the most of it. >> and we didn't get a chance to talk about romney and bush and the secret meeting we talked about. >> awkward. >> awkward is right. mark murray, as always good to have you. reverend al sharpton is in london talking about american rights and policing issues abroad. this morning he met with parliament to talk about race relations in america and the u.k. >> the problems we face in the united states and the problems that are connected in u.k. are the same problem. all we wanted was for the law to

protect the citizens and to enforce the law. we are not anti-police. we are anti-police brutality. and later today he will head to oxford to give a speech on possible solutions and a way forward. he'll talk about that and more live tonight on politics nation at 6:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes

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music: melodic, calm music. don't miss the princess cruises 50th anniversary sale. our biggest sale ever. save up to $500 per person. everywhere we sail... ... all around the world. call your travel consultant, or 1-800-princess. princess cruises. come back new. for years there was no risk i was going to take over tom brady's quarterback job at the patriots, but today it is clear there is no risk of him taking my job either. >> even the white house, they are poking fun at deflate-gate tom brady and the new england patriots. but in foxboro, massachusetts, home of the new england patriots, the team's cocaptains sounded upbeat speaking to reporters today. no sign that deflate-gate is taking any toll on the

organization, nor that teammates believe anonymous allegations reported by espn that the nfl is investigating whether game balls used by the patriots last week were underinflated, possibly to make the balls easier for tom brady to throw, a charge the likely hall of famer denied. the reporter for the the boston globe and a former nfl player thank you for being with us here. talking more ball, balls and deflate gate. and ben, let's start in foxboro, you have new information about the timeline when the game balls were checked and what can you tell us with this new nfl statement coming out that they've interviews around 40 people and correction there, you are in the newsroom not at foxboro. >> sure. so there was a lot of questions left yesterday after they denied

having any contact with the deflate gate. and what was the nfl testing? there were 24 balls used from each team and they were tested for a pressure gage and they all passed. and at half time they did found underinflated footballs. in the second half the nfl said the balls were properly inflated and tested after the game again and they were still properly inflated after the game. sow can take weather out of the equation or anything else but someone touched the footballs. now the nfl has not placed any blame. the investigation is still on going, they conducted over 40 interviews in foxboro and checked cell phone records and surveillance tape and spoke with full-time and part-time employees about what happened an the investigation is still ongoing. but the nfl has confirmed there were underinflated balls used in

the first half but in the second half they were inflated. >> you wonder what happened in between. and chris you heard that to factor into what tom brady said on thursday and i want to get your comment. listen. >> i don't put any thought into the footballs after i choose them. when you are out there playing in front of 70,000 people like a home crowd, you don't think about it. you are just reacting to the game. i don't certainly think about the football. i just assume it is the same one that i approved in the program. >> as a former nfl football player i saw the eye roll you just gave when you were listening to tom brady. what is your take on that, snow snow -- knowing the weight of the balls before and after the game. >> saying he doesn't care about the football is like serena saying she doesn't care about the racket. >> or me saying i don't care about the camera. >> so i can tell you right now,

that tom brady, best quarterback, arguably one of the best that ever lived and i can tell you he knows everything about the football regardless of there is 70,000 fans screaming his name. an under inflated ball in a rain game it will carry. there is strategy to an under inflated football from the center that snaps it to the quarterback and the quarterback that can handle the ball. bill belichick is known how he doesn't want drops. >> so are you saying that bill belichick or tom brady is lying? >> i wasn't there. until we see video of someone putting needles in football on the side line and drawing pressure out, then we'll see. i do think this is being blown way out of proportion because it is the patriots because it is

tom brady and bill belichick, given the history with spy-gate and other things. >> and beb, let me ask you this. what is the feeling in the locker room? do the teammates believe the stories about tom brady and bill belichick. >> they believe them. and tom brady had a closed-door meeting and he said this is out there. we have to prepare, we have a super bowl come upg and put it out there and let them know they need to block out this distraction. so the team hasn't completely hidden from this. the players have addressed it but they are supporting their coach and their quarterback. they have no idea realistically if any of this is going on. and they are just preparing for a super bowl. they are practicing this weekend and flying out there on monday. that is really the main concern right now. >> let me ask you this allegations aside here is there a culture of pushing it to the limit? there has been some who say bill belichick is a master of that

walking the line of rules or pushing the line after spy gate? >> i don't want to label the nfl as one who says they push boundaries or cheats. but bill belichick is a guy who certainly walks the line and people have said he's one of the things that-- one of the people that think a foul is only a foul if the referee blows the whistle to call. it is a tough year for the nfl. it is not the game i was raised in or 99% of the players grew up in. and this is a game of honor and code and this is another opportunity for nfl to step into that mindset and broadcasting those qualities to the public. >> and ben, i worked in boston and reported on the past three super bowls they won there and i know you are fairly new but how

is this playing out. still a revered parents -- patriots or is there tainting here? >> i think people in foxboro fall into two camps. one, they really support the patriots no matter what they do and this is a media driven viehation viehation, but whether they cheated, they've brought this upon themselves and taunted their win and they are cheaters and nothing they've ever done is fair and square. so me personally i think they are a fantastic team. they deserve to be in the super bowl. this doesn't detract from their accomplishments, but the patriots could be playing fast and loose with the rules. >> they want the next win knowing the last two super bowls were for them and how that turned out. thank you, chris vollin and raul beretta. thank you.

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a newly announced state department visit from kerry has grown to a standoff for netanyahu who is up for election but not receiving an official visit. he will address kog -- congress next month at the invocation of john boehner and his subject is president obama over not inducing new sanctions against iran. and so christenrist ebb welker at the white house. >> reporter: the president issued a veto threat saying he would veto any legislation that brought new sanctions against

iran for the nuclear program. republicans and some democrats want to see that legislation passed. so the day after the state of the union address, house speaker john boehner invited prime minister benjamin netanyahu to address a joint session of congress and it is expected he will call for stiffer sanctions against iran. this is essentially poking the president in the eye. and it is said to be a breach to protocol. and the president will not meet with netanyahu because his elections are two weeks after the visit here in march. john kerry is visiting nigeria before the elections held there. the administration is aing look, these two things are apples and oranges. take a look at what the state spokesperson jen psaki said yesterday. >> yesterday you said in regards

to netanyahu, that is a matter of long-standing press he is neither the press nor the sect of state meets with candidates in close proximity to their election, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country. is there an exception for north africa countries that start with the letter n. and end with the letter a. >> there are different issues. we welcomed netanyahu's visit but we are not meeting with him. because there is a difference between hosting a meeting exclusively with one candidate in your own country and visiting a country. >> reporter: so the explanation there from state department spokesperson jen ptaki. josh earnest got similar questions today and he had similar answers. he stood by the administration's decision not to meet with prime

minister netanyahu indicating it is so close to the elections in israel. having said that frances, it is true that the administration has emphasized the fact as they see this as a breach of protocol heads of state invite other heads of state to host their countries. the big question moving forward is how will this impact u.s.-israeli relations. john kerry has visited the region a number of times trying to promote the peace process there and privately some aides are saying he is frustrated. so what is the broader impact? that question remains unanswers at this point. >> and the question also what is the white house saying about how netanyahu's visit might affect nuclear talks with iran? >> it is a great question. and that is not known yet either. what the administration says is the reality is those talks have a 50/50 percent chance of bearing fruit. they are not overly optimistic

they will get a deal on the iran nuclear program but having said that they are in damn persistent any new legislation will scuffle the talks. will that have an influence on the talks? probably not. but it does kick up the debate and doesn't help the talks going on today and tomorrow. >> sure. very quickly. the president is expected to speak at the congress of mayors what can we expect? >> well look this is going to be a continuation of what we heard from him at the state of the union. he'll continue to try to sell those policies increasing taxes on wealthy americans, providing tax breaks for the middle class, middle class priorities like education, housing, childcare. he's going to try to get the mayors on board with his policies. and by the way, white house officials say he will continue to crisscross the country in the coming days an -- and weeks. >> kristin welker thank you for

that. >> that wraps things up here for "the reid report." i'm frances rivera. joy reid will be back next week. and up next "the cycle." >> good to see you. a lot going on in the show today. starting with the gop craziness. it is already 2016 it feels like. a lot going on this weekend with potential candidates. we'll be talking about football. and ari will tell us what deflate gate means for all of us. >> at least you are saying football and not balls, balls, balls. >> and we have a journalist that talks about having ptsd that has never been spoking on before. and i'll rant about why everyone should find their passion in life. >> great to here. so that does it for us and "the cycle" is up next. that make edward jones one of the

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you are in st. and the republicans are back are iowa. good afternoon. i'm abby huntsman and no it is not time for the iowa caucus. that is more than a year away. but the iowa freedom summit kicks off bright and early tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. start. an early friday night. hopefuls are getting start in the first in the nation caucus state to show their best to the state and distinguish themselves to another wide open republican field.